Regression Vol. 1: Way Down Deep
Cullen Bunn, story; Danny Luckert, art; Marie Enger, colors/letters
Image Comics, 2017
I'm a big fan of Cullen Bunn's horror writing from The Sixth Gun and Harrow County. So I'm surprised I overlooked this one (although not seeing Luckert's work on Haunted may have contributed). At any rate, this is arguably Bunn's most solidly horror-based story to date. We first encounter protagonist Adrian at a party, but he's not having a good time. He is experiencing terrifying hallucinations: he keeps seeing people around him consumed by flies, maggots and other insects; and he has visions of some sort of diabolic rite.
A friend takes him to see a hypnotist to try past-life regression hypnotherapy. Adrian is dubious--he doesn't believe in reincarnation, and has doubts about hypnotism--but he agrees. The brief session shows him more of the historical cult he has been seeing in his nightmares (perhaps medieval, judging by the clothing), and leaves him feeling worse than before. He is unable to contact the hypnotist when he awakens, for a good reason. The hypnotist has been ritually murdered.
Meanwhile, Adrian continues to have visions. And he seems to be taken over by his historical alter ego, indicated by a matching tone of voice and uncharacteristically reckless behavior. Some of the cult members appear to have followed him back, further muddying the question of who is responsible for the violence and murders that suddenly seem to follow Adrian wherever he goes. This arc closes with cult members in the present shooting the police detectives to whom Adrian was trying to surrender, then grabbing him and taking off in a van--despite the apparent success of another past-life regression session with a different hypnotist.
So that part is certainly not imaginary. But it's an open question whether Adrian is going through some kind of past life echo, or simply having a mental breakdown. It will be interesting to see where the story goes next. Luckert's style is an interesting blend of realism and cartooning: he excels at portraying facial expressions, and seems to delight in depicting all of the violence and debauchery (not to mention the bugs).
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