Review: The Berg

The Berg will be on Kickstarter next month, and this is one you definitely want to keep an eye out for. It is an absolute treat. Written by Sarah Peploe & Fraser Campbell, with art by Gavin Mitchell, lettering by Colin Bell, and colour assists by JP Jordan, The Berg has an incredible creator line-up. It's a horror comic that will delight comic and horror fans alike.

Follow a team of sanitation workers as they descend into the London sewers to clear the biggest fatberg the city has ever known. Chaos ensures as their comms fail, the power dies, and they start hearing and seeing things. Wading through the dirt and the darkness, the crew find the fatberg and faces a fight to survive.

As always, we start with the art, from Gavin Mitchell. The art is beautiful in style and colour. It's bold, has a pulpy feel to it, and almost feels dirty, which is perfect for a story that takes you into the sewers. It adds to the atmosphere and ups the gross feeling. The Berg is the star of the show and is the stuff of nightmares, yet it's also weirdly stunning in a way that reminds me of one of my favourite films - The Thing. There are a few stand-out panels that are larger than the rest where you can just appreciate the level of detail that has gone into creating this. 

The colouring from JP Jordan is wonderful throughout. The pink sheen in the sewage water, the Berg, blue highlighting when it's darker. It all elevates the art to another level which is always impressive when the art is so good, to begin with.

Colin Bell's lettering does a solid job. Great, even. He gets to use some flair when it comes to voicing characters the Berg has taken over - another thing that made me think of The Thing. Using a font for those moments where the line height varies and it's all uneven is a talent to get right. You need it to still be easily readable, after all. It's a nice touch. There are also some moments of speech bubbles overlapping each other to portray chaotic moments with people talking over each other, which works well.

The story of The Berg is written by Sarah Peploe & Fraser Campbell, and they have written something that is a delight to read. As the story progresses, it turns into a complete nightmare as things get progressively worse. There's mystery, tension and sewer-based horrors. The Berg is horrific and brings in some moments of vivid nightmares to the characters that showcase some of the connections between them in a way that adds to the doom and gloom of the story. We have some really dark moments, some violence and even a bit of humour. 

The Berg is a brilliant entry to the horror comic world. One moment, in particular, deserves a special mention because it's not often my girlfriend looks at me and asks what I'm reading because I'm sitting there progressively saying no louder with each panel. So I showed her, and her reaction was one of pure horror at what I was reading. I won't spoil it other than to say it involves some used rubber.

Overall, I want more, so I can only hope this is the start of a series because the combined creative package on this is incredible, and if this is what's produced when they combine, then the world needs more of it. It's smartly written, beautifully drawn and coloured with expert lettering. This is peak UK indie comic work.

Keep an eye out for this on Kickstarter. You will want this comic in your collection.

Rating: 5/5

Sarah Peploe & Fraser Campbell (w), Gavin Mitchell (a), Colin Bell (l), JP Jordan (c) - Cabal Comics