Author Irvine Welsh is Scottish. Is it the constantly gray skies? The writers from Scotland are fucking nuts. Writer Ben McCool has written an increasingly bleak, super-violent, wallowing-in-garbage story that features cannibals, cops, drugs, and vampires. I suppose it doesn't help that artist Ben Templesmith has made this book look as dark as Charles Manson's mind. And while the look and story are dark, it's actually a wildly entertaining book that feels fresh and vibrant and alive. The story takes place in a world where the cops have to take a drug that will bulk them up. It's called Man-Plus. The problem is that there are side-effects, one of them being alien hand syndrome. The main character suffers from that syndrome and has been known to inadvertently choke himself, hence the title name. The main character is also an ex-cop who has been put back on the force to help catch a cannibal serial killer. Meanwhile, a new drug is making the rounds in the city and it turns people into vampires. There's a big action scene in this issue when some vamps attack the cops, but the art is dark and smudgy and the action is hard to follow. The basic premise and gritty world is compelling enough to make everything work, though, regardless of the incomprehensibility of some of the sequences. This is sick, sadistic stuff but it's definitely worth reading. ***
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