The Empty Man (2019) #7 Review

Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Jesus Hervas
Colorist: Niko Guardia
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Publisher: Boom! Studios

Rebooted horror series The Empty Man has been consistently telling a great story while also remaining frightening. The writing has been top notch since the first issue, but one of the qualities that makes this series so scary is Jesus Hervas’ disturbing illustrations. It seems as if this level of creepy artwork has been turned up in the last few issues and it is definitely helping the series stay scary while the storytelling is slowing down a bit.

Fortunately, the writing’s slightly slower pace isn’t hurting the series because Cullen Bunn is now making the entire story a bit more complex and interesting. The Empty Man as a physical being is changing the tune of the story for me. When the Empty Man "disease" was something being caught and driving people to insanity, I liked the mystery of this odd illness and was curious to watch the world burn because of it. This physical form of the Empty Man definitely makes the “disease” less mysterious, but there is now a new bigger mystery to the Empty Man and what exactly is even happening in the world.

I do especially enjoy the multiple viewpoints and stories we’re getting in the last couple of issues. There are about four different stories happening in this one issue alone and yet it doesn’t feel too busy. It is instead adding another layer of intricacy to the story which provides a setup to what seems to be an exciting conclusion coming up. I am curious how Bunn and company plan on tying all of these stories together in the next issue.

Empty Man (2019) #7 does its job well by shocking me and creating tension needed to conclude the story next month. The storytelling remains impressive and the artwork is somehow getting more and more amazing in each issue. I was hooked from the start of this series but issues like this seventh one excel at pulling me in further and showing me why I find the horror genre to be so much fun.