Basketful of Heads superbly delivers what the reader signs up for: a violent escapade of survival in rural America set during the 1980s. The art and plot masterfully conjures the same vibe as a horror paperback or B-movie from the same era it conveys. And the touch of mystical surrealism gives the story a surprisingly comedic edge. While the final act suffers from blatant exposition it also comes with a shocking and debatable conclusion.

Absolutely loved the references, especially the Stephen King ones, that Hill makes in this series. The art and coloring blend well with the elements of the horror story. My full review: https://youtu.be/jtcivuMVsgg

I enjoyed this dark graphic novel by Joe Hill. Just when you think you are getting to the answer, another head rolls! Great twist at the end as well. I would recommend this for high school and older.

Basket Full of Heads by Joe Hill is a gory, campy adventure full of twists and humor along with the appropriate horrors. June goes to visit her boyfriend Liam in the sleepy fishing town of Brody Island where he's working as a part-time cop over the summer. They're having dinner with his boss when word that four escaped convicts are on the loose, reigning terror on civilians. As her boyfriend's boss leaves with the other full-time cops on the force, the four escapees break into the boss' house and attack June and Liam. They kidnap Liam and whisk him away, leaving June to fight off one remaining escapee herself. Luckily Liam's boss has a huge collection of old Viking artifacts stored in the house, including weapons. June gets her hands on an axe, but it doesn't exactly do its job quite as one would expect.

This collection of issues #1-7 was well paced, very funny, and incredibly entertaining. It reminded me of all the things I love about ridiculous '80s slashers. I also appreciated that it was a one-and-done, so to speak. I don't need to hunt down more issues or wait for them to come out. The entire story is contained in this one volume, and it wraps up very nicely! The artwork is likewise excellent and fits the story incredibly well. I tip my hat to Leomacs (Illustrator), Riccardo La Bella (Illustrator), Dave Stewart (Colorist), and Deron Bennett (Letterer).

I appreciated June as a main character. She is brave, savvy, capable, and full of love for herself and those near and dear to her. That is not to say she is naive. Despite being accused of that multiple times, June proves herself to be otherwise. In fact, when the gaping maw of the patriarchy comes for June in a painful and hurtful way, she does not hesitate to take action and fight for herself and all the women wronged by evil men. I have to applaud Joe Hill for his character work across the board, but especially with June.

I thoroughly enjoyed this reading experience and eagerly await the next installments in the Hill House Comics collection.

'Basketful of Heads' by Joe Hill with art by Leomacs and Riccardo La Bella is a graphic novel horror story that was a lot of fun to read.

It's the end of Summer and Jue is visiting her boyfriend Liam on Brody Island. He's been a temporary law enforcement officer and this is his last day. It's also the day 4 convicts have escaped from Shawshank, and before long June finds herself with a missing boyfriend and being hunted by killers. Fortunately for her, she's found an ancient ax that has mysterious properties, and before long, she's got a basketful of heads.

I had a great time reading this story. The mystery in the background has some nice twists and turns. The gore was fun, and the talking heads were kind of hilarious. The art is great, especially the included covers.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Due to the length of the review, please see the link: http://www.panelpatter.com/2020/09/basketful-of-heads-joe-hill-leomacs-review.html

Thank you!

OK, I’m not a huge comics/graphic novels person. I have a few I really love, like Saga by Brian Vaughan or Rat Queens by Wiebe. The endless variance in the DC and Marvel Universes makes me tired just thinking about it. I like more of a concrete “story” and less of myriad alternate universes with alternative timelines and endless possibilities.

In that regard, Basketful of Heads had pretty good, concise, finite storytelling. There are possibilities, of course, with future storylines both for June and for the ax itself but things were pretty well delineated here. I really liked the clear storytelling in the art too (although personally I’m not a huge gore person). I think I vastly prefer reading the graphic novel as one piece rather than installments. I don’t love cliffhangers and I’d prefer to read the entire story at once.

June is a good character who starts off a little one-note and gradually expands. I guess a little sorcery and a few buckets of blood will do that to ya, lol. Frankly, I didn’t care about Liam at all, and I absolutely loved that June didn’t play around. Frequently women are portrayed, in graphics or otherwise in fiction, as hesitant to act, whether offensively or defensively, and tending towards merciful. I really got into the fact that June was more than ready to swing that ax. Also, I’m not sure why a tiny town in Nowhere, Maine would have a sheriff with a huge magical items collection, but, OK *shrugs*. It would be nice to see Hill and by extension King set their work literally anywhere else besides Maine but I don’t think it’s gonna happen, LOL. I suppose the atmospheric spooky island is practically its own character here, and it WAS a great setting for this story. The suspense level was pretty good – the heads didn’t scare me but the anticipation was at a nice constant level.
Thank you to NetGalley and DC Entertainment for providing an ARC for review. An honest review was requested but not required. I will say, that I received an email from DC regarding review stipulations that was so full of complex legalese that I was hesitant to post a review ahead of time, hence the day “late” on posting. That has not happened to me before when reviewing with NetGalley and while I’m not put off from requesting from DC, I’m definitely going to consider carefully.

Just in time for pumpkin spice latte season, DC’s horror imprint — Hill House Comics — delivers a 1980s horror film packed into a 163-page graphic novel. Basketful of Heads is a page-turning tale filled with intrigue, police cover-ups, and bad men getting what they deserve. 

Joe Hill is a master of horror and fiction and those familiar with his previous works (20th Century Ghosts, NOS4A2, Locke & Key) are in for another treat with Basketful of Heads. Like any good horror story, the novel begins with the innocence of the last weekend of summer. June Branch, a psychology major, heads to Brody Island to spend the weekend with her boyfriend Liam, who is a cop in training.

It may seem like a slow start, but the scene is set from June’s introduction on the suspension bridge through to Liam bringing her home to meet his family. Once you finish Basketful of Heads, go back and reflect on the clever allusions in the dialogue and the way that Hill bookends the story. This is a graphic novel made to be seen on the screen one day and part of that is due to the rich vintage feel of Leomacs’ artwork. Each page evokes a sense of quintessential New England horror — the muted tones, the vibrant blood, and of course the yellow fisherman’s raincoat. 

Synopsis: June Branch visits her boyfriend, Liam, on Brody Island for a relaxing last weekend of summer. After an escaped group of criminals breaks into the house that June and Liam are watching, Liam is taken by them. June grabs a strange Viking axe and flees from the intruders. When one of the attackers finds her, she swings the axe and takes off his head, which rolls away and begins to babble in terror. For June to uncover the truth, she'll need to hear the facts straight from the mouths of her attackers, with...or without their bodies attached.

Basketful of Heads was originally published in a series of seven issues in 2019, but has been artfully bound into one novel — just in time for the spooky season. Pick it up everywhere comic books are sold on September 8th, 2020. Find out more at DC Comics.

Overall, this was really interesting. Hardcore main character and I definitely have questions about what happens with the heads at the end. The illustrations aren't as dark as I expected from the cover and title, but they were still really good. Definitely not for teen collections.

This books is a great take on the classic, 1980s ax murder story.Think a slasher story with some Last House on the Left thrown in. The story itself moves along at a good pace, never feeling boring or dragging out. You get just enough details so that everything makes sense, but not so many that it bogs down the whole thing.

The artwork really complements the story, with a classic comic look but without falling into some of the issues of comics from the 80s. The colors are well down, just muted enough, but not muddled or messy. The line work is very good, conveying a sense of action and not loosing anything in translation.

Joe Hill has written some of my favorite comics of all time with his Locke & Key series so I was pretty excited when I saw he had his own line of comics coming out. Basketful of Heads has a lot to love with its small island off the coast of Maine setting, stormy nights, crooked cops, summer love... magical viking weapons? Yes, that's right. A magical viking axe that brings life instead of death. So when things get crazy, and axes start swinging, our main character, June, starts filling up that titular basket. Its definitely a wild ride and the art is just the icing on top of the cake. Such detailed drawings and the colors just add so much to the atmosphere. I would recommend this one for sure if you like small town vibes and badass women taking no shit from the bad guys.

Special thanks to NetGalley and DC for the free ARC I was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Basketful of Heads is a graphic novel which relates the tale of June, a young woman who is watching a house with her boyfriend Liam when the house is invaded by a group of escaped prison inmates. In desperation, she grabs an ancient Viking axe from the house owners' collection and uses it to defend herself against one of the escapees, decapitating him the process. It turns out—to both their horror—that the axe is cursed, and June soon finds herself carrying around both the axe and a basket with the man's still-living, still-talking head residing in it. He will not be the last casualty of the night as June begins a bloody quest to track down the other escaped inmates and save Liam.

I have read some of Joe Hill's other work, including NOS4A2 and the graphic novel series Locke and Key, and I have to say...this one did not disappoint in the slightest. I ended up reading the entire thing in one sitting. With never a dull moment to be found, the story surprised me more than once with its twists and turns. It's obviously a violent story, but thankfully this is balanced out by the humor.

I really liked the character writing for June, who initially seems like a flat character straight out of an 80's slasher flick (the kind who would normally be among the first characters to die) but soon is shown to be anything but when the reader—and perhaps June herself—realize what lengths she will go to in order to stop the bad guys.

Great artwork—it really gives the graphic novel that 80's slasher vibe while effectively executing the story in all its bloody glory.

I understand that this is the first graphic novel/series from Hill House, DC's new imprint of which Joe Hill is in charge. Given how much I enjoyed this one, I now find myself wanting to read more and hope I will be able to do so soon.

Basketful of Heads is the first graphic novel/series from Hill House Comics, a new line from DC Comics. As the title of both this graphic novel, and line might imply, the focus is all about horror. It's a whole new world, and at the forefront, you'll find Joe Hill (writer), Leomacs (artist), Riccardo La Bella (artist), Dave Stuart (colorist), and Deron Bennett (letterer).
All June Branch wanted was one lovely summer with her boyfriend. One summer to spend time with on Brody Island, enjoying the sun and free days. Unfortunately, that was not to be. Much of Liam's time was spent on his job, being a police officer.
Then there's the crime, and series of events that pull both June and Liam into it all. It all started when a group of convicts escaped, and before she knew it, June was in for a fight for her life. Literally.

Basketful of Heads is a dark and fantastical horror series – exactly what you'd expect to come from the mind of Joe Hill. It's twisted, gory, and unafraid to dive into the worst that humanity has to offer. With a supernatural twist, naturally.
I have to admit, I really love the idea of DC diving into the world of horror, and that they're hiring known authors in that genre to do so. It's this sort of thinking that can help them to stand out, as well as to diversity their series, even if just a little bit more.
So in that sense, maybe I'm a bit biased, and thus inclined to enjoy this series. It's everything I expected from a horror series titled 'Basketful of Heads', with a few dark twists along the way.
There are plenty of things to enjoy about this series. The tone, the aesthetic, and then there's June's character. She started out as a two-dimensional character, but by the time the seventh issue came around, she felt more real. Even with dealing with some things that are pretty out of this world.
I'll confess that there are probably a few things I would have liked to see done differently, but on the whole, I really did enjoy the writing and overall design of this series. The artwork matched the story perfectly, with sharper edges and colors to bring it all home.
As for the conclusion? I can't say that I was expecting it, but in a way that made it all the better. Who wants a horror story with a predictable ending? I can't wait to see what other stories show up from this line! Here's hoping it continues for a good long while.

Is there something in Norse myth about talking severed heads? Headlopper, God of War, and now this feature them. One that really takes the concept of Talking Heads to a whole new meaning. The interrogations feel tense with all of the misinformation going about. It gets hard to tell with anyone or anything on whose telling the truth. With all the personalities on display, it's hard to take anything what some people say seriously. It's a feeling shared between all of the characters. Everyone is so paranoid about their sense of superiority and confirmation biases that they end up tearing themselves apart. The cruelties and betrayals get people at just about every moment. Although the axe that makes all of this possible was kind of underused, like the bodies in the bay, I know there's an explanation but it feels like a waste of potential. Still a good read as a crime drama, even if it has trouble balancing the more fantastic with the dramatic.

"#1 New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill asks, "With a cursed Viking axe, what can you accomplish?" and June Branch is ready to answer!

June Branch visits her boyfriend, Liam, on Brody Island for a relaxing last weekend of summer. After an escaped group of criminals breaks into the house that June and Liam are watching, Liam is taken by them. June grabs a strange Viking axe and flees from the intruders. When one of the attackers finds her, she swings the axe and takes off his head, which rolls away and begins to babble in terror.

For June to uncover the truth, she'll need to hear the facts straight from the mouths of her attackers, with...or without their bodies attached.

Collects issues #1-7."

I have been reading all the individual issues of Hill House Comics from day one and Basketful of Heads by eponymous Joe Hill is easily on of the best. The humor, the horror, the eighties, the references to Jaws, I love it all!

Joe Hill is having a moment. With his Locke & Key series now on Netflix, and his novels and short-story collections in high demand, DC has given him a prestige project, his own label- Hill House Comics. While not all of the graphic novels under this label will be penned by him, this first story is.

Set in September 1983, on Brody Island in Maine, the story establishes an 80s horror flick vibe. June is visiting her boyfriend Liam who is wrapping up his summer job as a deputy before going back to college in the fall. But a prison break (with a homage to Hill’s father Stephen King) puts their reunion in jeopardy. The two head to the police chief’s palatial estate during a growing storm and are amazed by the chief’s Viking artifacts collection. A battle-ax comes in very handy when the convicts land on their doorstep…

There are some twists and turns as to who the convicts are and who they are connected to on the island. As June fights for her life, grabbing the first weapon in sight, the ax’s power manifests in that the decapitated head is still alive and can continue talking. But heads begin to roll (!!) as June tries to reunite with Liam and has to fight off several more criminals. Many secrets of corruption on the island are revealed by these talking heads. A final show-down discloses some heartbreaking truths and June obtains justice for a young woman who had been used and abused that summer.

Artists Leomacs and Riccardo La Bella really captured the era and northeast region well. There were crude jokes with some characters getting an almost Mad magazine type of caricature treatment, especially three times when a character is drawn with two heads as they are reacting to news. I loved the chapter breaks, as June’s basket fills and how the chapter numbers are symbolized. These sight gags, plus others, matched the tone of the narrative and made me laugh.

I enjoyed the dark humor as the horror-aspect of it all was played fast and loose. Thanks to NetGalley for this advance copy, for with this graphic novel as the first in the collection, I am looking forward to the others coming out in the months ahead. Joe Hill, both in graphic novels and books, is now definitely a favored author of mine.

A really solid graphic novel by Joe Hill. I don't know if it would have been as fulflling read as a monthly comic, although Hill does a nice job building with each chapter break, but as a complete piece it is a real nice chunk of horror/crime. Leaning more on the thriller than on the horror, it reads like a cross between David Lapham's Stray Bullets and an EC/Warren horror short. The art by Leomacs is clear, with strong storytelling and character acting. Recommended. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an unbiased review.

Launched last year through DC Comics, the Joe Hill's Hill House Comics imprint, alongside Neil Gaiman's Sandman Universe reaffirmed DC's commitment to publishing quality horror titles, something they have done continuously from the late '60s weakening of the Comics Code and the heyday of House Of Mystery, House of Secrets and Swamp Thing.

Curator Joe Hill, son of a certain major-selling horror-book author, is a hugely talented and prolific author in his own right with the series Locke & Key for IDW (now a Netflix TV show) and the AMC supernatural series NOS4A2, to his credit. DC described Hill House Comics as a part of a 'new pop-up line of horror comic books, five original limited series meant to chill the bones and summon nightmares with smart, subversive narratives and haunting, heart-stopping visuals'. While future titles seem unlikely considering DC's recent implosion (Hellblazer being one casualty), the first four series are being published as graphic novels from next month and are well worth picking up, if you've not been collecting the floppies.

Hill scripted the first of the quartet of tales to be released. Set in a small community of Brody Island, Maine in 1983, Basketful of Heads follows the misfortunes of June Branch, a young woman trying to save her boyfriend after his capture by four violent home invaders. (Incidentally, all four titles here feature a female protagonist.) June is aided in her struggle by an eighth-century Viking axe that comes into her possession. As well as being a formidable weapon, the axe's supernatural properties keep the heads it severs conscious after separation. The ensuing commentary between June and her basket of heads is a delight in a fast-paced, bloody tale. The axe's wrath, however, is separate from what is a straightforward story of narcotics and police corruption. This is explained (at length) in an exposition-packed fifth chapter by the end of which you're keen to see June go berserk with the axe once more. June is happy to oblige and proves herself a resourceful and tough avenger, sympathetic though somewhat naïve.

Apart from the lengthy plot discourse, the story glides along thanks to the clear-line style of Leomacs enlivened by Dave Stewart's autumnal shades. While the Norse sorcery and likelihood of a small-town police chief having a cabinet of Scandinavian antiques stretches credibility, Basketful of Heads is an enjoyable gory romp.

When June goes to visit her boyfriend, Liam, her trip quickly starts to spin out of control.. An unexpected dinner at the police chief's house, leads to the couple staying over due to a storm. Men break into the house later that night to kidnap Liam. June must fight her way to survive the murders, understand what caused this whole scheme to unravel and find Liam. A magical axe allows her to get the answers she needs once she's conquered her attackers.

College student June Branch arrives on Brody Island in Maine at the end of the summer of 1983 to spend some time with her boyfriend, Liam, as his summertime stint as a small-town cop draws to a close. As they are housesitting, however, their reunion is abruptly ruined by a small group of convicts from Shawshank Prison who have escaped from their work detail on a chain gang. While June hides, Liam goes to confront them. Unfortunately, he is taken captive. Apparently, he has something they want. With phone lines and power dead due to a tropical storm that has blown in, June is forced to go after the convicts to save Liam herself. But what can she use for a weapon? How about the 8th-century Viking axe hanging on the wall? What?! Luckily for June, the homeowner of the house she is sitting for is obsessed with his Viking heritage. But June soon comes to realize this is no ordinary artifact. Not only can it remove heads with a single swipe, but the decapitated heads can continue to speak! But will it be enough to take on a group of convicts holding her boyfriend hostage? And will she arrive in time to save him from being tortured to death?

Basketful of Heads is the first of five self-contained horror miniseries curated by Joe Hill under his own Hill House Comics pop-up line from the mature readers’ DC Black Label comics imprint. We all know Hill is a master of horror, but what may come as a surprise to some is that he is equally adept at crafting a perfectly paced mystery thriller. And that is just what Hill has done here. Equal parts horror, mystery, and thriller, Basketful of Heads is a captivating read. There is much humor to be found here, too, and it hits the pitch-perfect notes that even many horror-comedies can’t quite pull off. The banter between June and the decapitated heads is worth the price of admission alone. Fans of Jaws and Stephen King (Hill’s father) will also enjoy the many Easter eggs in this story. Each issue/chapter of the story reveals more unexpected information and twists, giving June (and readers) more pieces of the puzzle. (Of course, can you really trust decapitated heads?)

I just cannot say enough good things about this book. I haven’t had this much fun reading something for a very long time. I was also impressed with Italian artist Leomacs (real name Massimiliano Leonardo). His characters are very expressive, and the quality of his art is very consistent. And the colors by legendary colorist Dave Stewart are spot-on, as always. If the other books from Hill House Comics are half as good as this one, I look forward to reading every one of them. And not to knock superheroes—because they’re great, too—but I just want to give kudos to DC for having the courage to publish a line of horror comics in a very superhero-dominated market.

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.