Review and Analysis- Silent Hill: Past Life #2

12 Nov, 2010

I would just like to start with a very special thanks to Tom Waltz for providing me with opportunity to continue covering this series and his support of our community. You’re the man!

So here we are again loyal readers, thanks to the generosity of Mr Tom Waltz we have issue two of his so far brilliant four part comic series acting as prelude to the next chapter in the Silent Hill franchise. Silent Hill: Past Life tells the tale of the ‘Hellrider’ Jebediah Foster, a former criminal looking to make good in a new life with his wife Esther and their unborn child. However, after some odd encounters on the road and the disturbing presence of an unwanted visitor in their new property it is becoming clear that someone, or something is out seek retribution against Mr Foster and his family.

Issue two picks up almost exactly from where the first left off, with Jebidiah lying awake at night haunted by his visit from the etherial native American woman to whom we are told now is named, Inola who came to ‘return’ certain lost property in the form of an enormous hunting knife. So shaken by the encounter it leaves Jebidiah grappling with his conscience and questioning whether he can ever considering himself a ‘good man’, while continually being stalked by a malevolent looking skeletal figure who seems to preempt moments of distress. As a would-be good citizen, Jebidiah decides that he is going to report the incident to the town sheriff, Seth Creviston, a name that rings familiar to the Hellrider but is unsure why. Things take a further turn for the strange, when while waiting for the Sheriff to return to his office, Jebidiah cools his heels in the local tavern, where after ordering coffee and a breakfast is left feeling somewhat confused after the observation by the bartender Jonas that this is ‘not his normal order’. Meanwhile Esther has a close encounter of the seemingly supernatural kind all of her own, when Inola returns to the house to further the issue of whether or not redemption is a possibility for someone with as much moral baggage as Jebidiah Foster.

From here you could almost be forgiven for thinking that Jebidiah is stuck in the company of ghosts from his past, especially when he is accosted by the brassy Helene who’s familiarity with the ‘Hellrider’ seems a little on the intimate side. It seems that Mr Foster is either suffering from an terminally poor memory or the town is really pulling a number on his psyche, but who knows where the faint line between reality and dellusion are in Silent Hill. Upon the return of the Sheriff who talks Jeb asside for a quiet chat about his issues with local hospitality, he makes the fleeting comment that Helene and Jonas are ‘dealing with the skeletons in their closet’ before rather aptly asking him whether he has any of his own to deal with. We are given the impression that there is some real history between these two characters, currently or seemingly unknown to Jebidiah, and suggested in dialogue about the origins of the large hunting knife left by Inola, and some rather nasty scars on the face of Sheriff Creviston.

All in all this series is really coming into it’s own, with this issue further capitalising on the importance of creating interesting characters who carry some real depth to them, while drawing in crucially from the rich lore of the Silent Hill series. The artwork remains absolutely top notch and showcase some absolutely beautiful illustrations, with the artist beginning to add a kind of signature colour scheme to each character, such as with Jebidiah who’s pannels of the comic are painted in dark muddy colours that serve only to accentuate the soiled nature of the characters conscience. The parts of the comic featuring Esther use a much lighter colour scheme, with lots of blues and whites which give the impression of water, purity or cleanliness, appropriate to the innocent if not naievity of her personality. The contrast in artistic presentation could be seen as further demonstrating the extent of the glaring differences between the troubled couple, and how Jebidiah can seemingly only poison and dirty the good nature of his new bride. As in my previous article, I have gone through this issue looking for key points relating to the series and anything extra that I thought might make for an interesting read. So here are this issue’s findings!

Toluca Prison
Howard Blackwood mentions Toluca Prison to Jebidiah in brief little history of Silent Hill, as well as the fact that the entire town was once a detainment colony of Civil War POWs. Toluca Prison featured heavily in Silent Hill 2 as playable environment, seemingly located underneath the ‘Historical Society’, though this is not entirely credible and could be down to James being in a dellusional state. Blackwood is quoted as saying ‘Maintaining prisons ain’t nothin’ new around here’, which in a broader scope can apply the unique individual ‘prison’ that each character is fighting through in the series. Silent Hill 2 especially demonstrates this idea, as the town manifests itself in unique ways to the individual depending on their nature of their crimes. The reader could begin to think that the experience Jebidiah is having within Silent Hill is based somehow on his past misdemenors, and as such with the two people he encounters in the Tavern who are ‘dealing with their own skeletons’.

The Seductress, The Oppressor and The Gluttanous Pig
Connected loosely to the Toluca Prison, the player is required to complete the Gallows puzzle in Silent Hill 2, featuring the tablets of ‘The Seductress’, ‘The Oppressor’ and ‘The Gluttanous Pig’. Tying in quite obviously to the idea of crime and punishment, while specific to the story of Silent Hill 2 and potentially clutching at straws I couldn’t help but see parallels in the three characters in the tavern. If we are to believe that Helene, Jebidiah and Jonas are living in some otherwordly limbo of their making, it is not necessarily a stretch to see strong links to this idea in at least two of the characters. Helene (The Seductress) is presented as a very brassy and provocative personality, insinuating that she once had a prolonged sexual relationship at one time with Jebidiah. The tablet of The Seductress depicts a naked aztec figure in front of a plant which is said to be the first of a type of plant that was used in the making of alcohol. The combination of a provacative woman and alcohol would make this appropriate to Helene who provided both to Jebidiah.
Jebidiah is a man haunted by a history of violence, and has spent a large part of his life neck deep in the vices of booze and women, and as such would make him ‘The Oppressor’. The tablet representing ‘The Oppressor’ in Silent Hill 2 is illustrated by an image of two aztec figures, one representing vice and sexual misdeeds, while the other is groping lustingly for the first. This could be said to show giving into temptation, or a domination over others.
Jonas to a degree could be sighted as ‘The Gluttanous Pig’ due to his behaviour towards Helene. His gluttanony could relate to the jealousy he is said to feel towards Jebidiah over his sexual prowess over Helene, and desire not to share her with anybody else. ‘Pig’ could be said to relate to the generally brutish treatment of Helene, such as physically grabbing her and denying her the ability to speak. The term is commonly used towards men who demonstrate chauvanistic behaviour towards women.

Cherokee ‘Blood Revenge’
The character of Inola is sighted by Sheriff Creviston to be from a tribe of Native Americans known as ‘Cherokee’. After doing some research into the customs of the tribe for the purposes of this review, I stumbled upon some quite interesting information on their beliefs in regards to revenge from a snippet on wikipedia:

The blood revenge custom, an ancient Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni belief, was usually made by an older male of the victim’s clan if it could not be taken by his oldest brother. The Cherokees believed that balance had to be restored in order to preserve the balance of forces between the two worlds, the spirit world, and the world of physical reality, and to free the soul of the victim and to let it pass from this world to the next. (It was the practice to avenge the victim by taking the life of the murderer himself, however, a close relative of the murderer would satisfy the revenge.)

While we seems to have a recurring theme of retribution running through this series so far, and the character of Inola seemingly very interested in Esther’s unborn child, knowledge of this custom might shed some light on what we can expect coming in the story. I wonder if the writers had this in mind while writing this story?

So there we have it folks! Anyone out there still unsure as to whether to give this a try, I implore you to go out and buy the first issue and give it a chance. This short but so far very sweet series is truly excellent in both art, characterisation, storytelling and grasp of canon, and so certain to play to the seasoned Silent Hill fan. The more of this I read, the more I want to read on and subsequently the more exciting a prospect Silent Hill 8 becomes!

Silent Hill: Past Life #2 is available from December 1st 2010 through any good comic book retailers!

Just a heads up to the Silent Hill Wiki for their brilliant information on the Gallows tablets, and of course the standard Wikipedia for the information on Cherokee Society.