Publisher: Action Lab
Writer: Shawn Gabborin
Artist: Michela De Sacco
Colourist: Yann Perrelt
Release Date: OUT NOW!!
Price: $14.99

Collecting Puppet Master #12-15 Shawn Gabborin takes us once more into the world of living marionettes and mystical demon gods in Puppet Master Vol. 4: Blood Debt. Anthony is the current Puppet Master.

However, it seems his father held the post before him and was an evil psychic who made his wooden-headed minions do really bad things as he searched for the secret of immortality. Anthony seems to have inherited his father’s psychic powers but has doubts as to who his real father is and, near as I can tell, the only immortality to be found in Puppet Master Vol. 4: Blood Debt lies in being reincarnated as a puppet and nobody really wants that.

Still in thrall to the evil god Anapa, Anthony and the puppets must do his bidding until they can find a way to escape from his clutches. There’s a certain inherent creepiness to puppets, but visually it’s difficult to make then look realistic when it comes to action sequences and the more violent episodes are apt to raise a chuckle rather than a shudder. It’s a tribute to Michela De Sacco’s artwork that Puppet Master Vol. 4: Blood Debt never quite tips over into farce although having one of the puppets beat up on a teddy bear may have been pushing things a bit too far for even the most willing suspension of disbelief.

Things hot up in Puppet Master Vol. 4: Blood Debt when Anapa takes on physical form and we get an addition to the cast of a classic monster to oppose him which leads to a climactic encounter that answers some questions but leaves others still a mystery.

Puppet Master Vol. 4: Blood Debt is enjoyable hokum for puppet lovers and puppet haters alike but for completely different reasons. But there are always strings attached and there is no jimmy Cricket; Pinocchio for grown-ups!

 

Reviewer: Gary Orchard
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker