Silent Hill (comics)

"Silent Hill" comics are a series of comic books based on the "Silent Hill" computer game.

Apart from an unreleased graphic novel and Sinner's Reward, they have all been written by Scott Ciencin, with various artists, and published by IDW Publishing.

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ilent Hill

An original unreleased "Silent Hill" graphic novel was completed in 2000 by British comic company Com.X, but for an undisclosed reason the book was never published. Com.X and Konami have repeatedly officially stated that they still intend to publish the book, but no confirmed date has been set. Interestingly, IDW Publishing was unaware that this project existed when they pursued the license.

ilent Hill: Dying Inside

"Dying Inside" was the first volume published by IDW Publishing, with art by Ben Templesmith (#1 and 2) and Aadi Salman (#3 to 5).

This story was originally released as a five issue limited series and later collected and released in a single volume trade paperback. The first two dealt with a doctor and patient, while the remaining three issues covered a group of goth kids. The first two issues rapidly sold out and required a second printing, in fact "Silent Hill #2 sold out, including IDW’s overprinting, before it even shipped to stores." [ [http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/news/10784355546395.htm IDW’s Silent Hill Sells Out] ]

In the first two chapters, Dr. Troy Abernathy wants to cure Lynn DeAngelis from her delusions, which began after she went to do a movie in the town of Silent Hill. Abernathy takes her back to the town... only to discover a world built from "his" inner fears, and ruled by a demonic little girl -- Christabella -- who seeks guilty souls. From Chapter 3 until the conclusion, a goth girl named Lauryn finds Lynn's movie and plans to go to Silent Hill to do the same stunt so her group can earn some cash. There, a final confrontation with Christabella occurs, when Lauryn realizes Christabella is a tad more familiar than she would have thought in the first place.

ilent Hill: Among the Damned

"Among the Damned" was a stand-alone one-shot story published in 2004 with art by Shaun Thomas. It is collected in the "Silent Hill: Three Bloody Tales" trade paperback.

ilent Hill: Paint It Black

"Paint It Black" was another one-shot with art by Shaun Thomas from 2005, also collected in "Three Bloody Tales".

It follows the story of Ike, an artist who finds himself homeless after being kicked out of a friend's apartment. Ike remains under the influence of Artist's Block until he meets a stranger who claims to have visited the ghost town of Silent Hill. The stranger informs Ike that he was able to leave the town because his own friend sacrificed himself, this story inspires Ike to travel to the town to seek out the truth behind it.

Inspired, Ike is able to paint again; however his portraits now feature the creatures that live in the town, and he has found that he is unable to leave. The story then takes an unusual turn as a team of cheerleaders arrive in Silent Hill looking for some friends who they believe went missing in the town.

As the plot continues to follow a strange set of developments, Ike discovers that he can actually travel through his paintings and he attempts to use them to escape.

His escape attempt fails and he finds that the cheerleaders have turned on him, sacrificing him so they can leave town.

ilent Hill: The Grinning Man

"The Grinning Man" (2005) is the third one-shot collected in "Three Bloody Tales" with art by Nick Stakal.

State Trooper Robert Tower is on his last day of work before retirement when his new replacement, Mayberry, arrives. Despite the fact that Tower enters Silent Hill on a regular basis to look for missing people, he's never been exposed to the horrifying creatures that roam its streets. However, to play a prank on Mayberry (a firm believer in not only the lore of Silent Hill, but also several other conspiracy theories and supernatural concepts), he stages a "Monster" attack with two other officers. However, there is a new force in the town of Silent Hill -- a smiling madman with a mastery of both magical spells and firearms who considers the city his own personal hunting ground. The truth about the city is exposed to Tower and the showdown between he and the mysterious Grinning Man ensues. This story is collected in the "Silent Hill: Three Bloody Tales" trade paperback.

ilent Hill: Dead/Alive

"Dead/Alive" (2006) consists of five issues drawn by Nick Stakal.

"Dead/Alive" links to the "Dying Inside" series by returning to Dr. Abernathy, Lauryn and her sister Christabella. Lauryn has a new boyfriend which appears to be Ike, the protagonist of "Paint It Black". Somehow, Christabella manages to escape Lauryn's powers, but returns as a normal little girl with little power. Then, she meets with a witch called Lenora who makes a deal with her. Lenora wants to bring Hell on earth through the characters of Connie and her ex-boyfriend actor Kenneth Carter.

ilent Hill: Hunger

"Hunger" (2006) appears exclusively on UMD disc 'Silent Hill Experience'. Hunger concerns itself with Douglass Payne and his fiancé Rosy, recently transported to the idyllic, serene Silent Hill. Doug’s hit on hard times, ousted from a prominent editorial position at a big newspaper where he was on track to deliver some huge stories before his ego got in the way and he was kicked to the curb. Now, settling down in Silent Hill, as his bride-to-be falls in love with the place, Doug is consumed with finding the next big story to get him back on top. When a 911 call is made to an abandoned house and the responding officer is murdered, reporter Douglas must find the answers to the mystery, all the while trying to find his love Rosy and figuring out the secrets that lie within a new stranger in town.

ilent Hill: Sinner's Reward

When hitman Jack “The Pup” Stanton runs away with his mob boss’s wife, he thinks he’s finally put his murderous past behind him. Instead, Jack and his lover take a wrong turn into Silent Hill and quickly learn that some sins are impossible to escape.

Game/comic book discrepancies

While the comic books are based upon the video game series of Silent Hill, there are noticeable differences not just in the town aesthetically but also in the history and the nature of the forces of Silent Hill. This has led many Silent Hill fans to consider the Silent Hill in the comic books existing in a different fictional universe than the Silent Hill of the video games (as is the Silent Hill in the movie, Silent Hill). Examples of these discrepancies are:

In "The Grinning Man", the Lakeview Hotel is actually not on Toluca Lake at all, as opposed to the Lakeview Hotel from Silent Hill 2.

The introduction of several characters who are extremely important to the universe of the comic books (Whately, Dr. Abernathy, Christabella, Laura, etc) yet are not mentioned once in any of the games, (the Silent Hill movie has a character named Christabella, but much different from the comics´ Christabella). Likewise, none of the characters from the games (Dahlia, James, Harry, etc) are mentioned in the comic books. However, James and his wife Mary can be seen in 'Silent Hill: Hunger' when Douglass mentions that Silent Hill is a resort town people often like to visit. Though they are shown, their purpose in the comic seems to strictly be fan service.

The Lakeview Hotel, Brookhaven Hospital, and even the Lighthouse are extremely different cosmetically than the same locations in the video games.

While the catalyst for the town's increase in power in the video games was when Alessa was impregnated with Incubus by her mother, Dahlia, when she was seven, in 'Silent Hill: Hunger' the catalyst for the comic book Silent Hill is a young woman who is forcibly impregnated by Whately and a Doctor who worked at Brookhaven.

References

External links

* [http://www.silenthillmemories.net/publications/comics_en.htm Silent Hill: Lost Memories - Comics]
* [http://www.idwpublishing.com/news/silenthill.shtml IDW's page]
* [http://silenthill.ugo.com/comics/default.asp Comics section of Ugo.com's Silent Hill Hub]
* [http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/reviews/111399917393089.htm Review of "Dying Inside" at Silver Bullets]