Invasive is probably the best horror comic I’ve read this year.

With its subject matter, part of which consists of crazy pseudo surgeons and people addicted to needless medical procedures just for the thrill of being operated on, it would have been very easy for this story to be one note and schlocky, leaning heavily on its premise and offering little else of value.

Invasive never veers into this pitfall however, and instead presents a compellingly original story with complex characters, stunningly rendered in beautiful line and color work. The result is a thoughtful tale and one I have no problem recommending to anyone with a reasonably strong stomach.

The plot, a lean and competent premise, is that a former detective and doctor team up to seek justice after the doctor’s daughter barely escapes the clutches of a mysterious group of murderous surgeons whose operations bring only mutilation and death to their unwilling patients. The daughter remains unresponsive in a comma and with no other leads detective and surgeon search for answers in support groups for people addicted to medical procedures and in back alley operating theaters headed by unscrupulous, partially trained doctors.

This story succeeds ably as a narrative and within its pages are stunning examples of gorgeous, if grotesque, artwork. The horror is definitely there, but it’s doled out with judicious restraint, making it all the more effective and shocking. This lesson is one many authors and especially creators of horror graphic novels, would do well to emulate, effective scares are often as brief as they are terrifying. The world Invasive creates is believable yet slightly askew, a shadowy, paranoid place that evokes nothing so much as an episode of the Twilight Zone written by Clive Barker.

If there isn’t more of this story in the works, then there certainly should be. Albeit, fans of a short, standalone tell won’t be dissatisfied in the least.