Writer: Christopher Cantwell / Penciller: I.N.J. Culbard / Letterer: Steve Wands / Designer: Richard Bruning / Digital Art Technician: Adam Pruett / Editors: Rachael Boyadjis and Karen Berger / Collects: Everything Vol.1 #1-#5 and Everything: Black Friday #6-#10 / Berger Books via Dark Horse Comics
The Pitch (Volume 1): EVERYTHING is a gleaming new mega-department store which arrives to extraordinary thrill-and rapidly escalates to inexplicable mania in the small town of Holland, Michigan. Who - or what - exactly is in charge here... and what insidious plans are in store?
(Volume 2): Murky answers to bizarre questions finally surface-who, or what, is really in control of the Everything megastore, and why? Monstrous villains will be revealed when an all-out war explodes between unlikely enemies-as unexpected heroes brave the unfathomable, perhaps-inhuman depths of the store to save a derailed American Dream-and rewrite the future.
30th November 2021 (Vol. 1 Released 13th May 2020, Vol. 2 Released 17th March 2021)
What beats at the dark heart of today's society? It's a question I sometimes find myself podering late at night when the lights are out and I can't sleep. How did we get here? To this emotional state? Are we doing the right things? Is it ok to want and desire? Anyone who has ever worked retail may have found themselves pondering this too. Or did you think everyone that works a cash till was a dead-eyed automoton? Did you think us incapable of deeper thought? During my time in various retail stores, I've seen a lot of things: drama, tragedy, extremism and most of all, joy. There is an aneathestising happiness brought about by purchasing things. Go on, treat yourself. You deserve it. Everything, across it's two volumes, attempts to show the downside of this paid tranquilising of our emotional selves. Can we wake ourselves from the moneyed stupor we find ourselves in and what is the true cost of happiness?, it asks.
those that avoid everything’s sensory takeover are punished, almost biblically
Everything starts in bloody trauma when we meet paramedic Laurie Dunbar. To escape her trauma, Laurie retires to Holland, Michigan yet finds more personalised trauma there as her health deteriorates. The people of Holland are all trying to escape, mentally if not physically. A new department store, called Everything, begins to offer them a route to this. They become entranced by the feeling it creates as they shop. But not everyone falls prey to the effects of Everything's spell. Those that avoid the sensory takeover are punished, almost biblically, but the thing in the dark that takes their spouses, their livelihoods and even begins to threaten their children. The religious overtones continue with the reveal of what Everything really is, it's true purpose. Gradually, the zeitgeist of the '80s 'me generation' gives way to a more cult-like, community-based terror as Holland becomes a Village of the Damned.
Cantwell has a great sense of his home country's true culture, the things that lie inside and underneath the modern American malaise. As with Iron Man, he's writing long form narratives and dares to leave volume one on a huge cliffhanger. In volume two, he allows the true silver age weirdness to emerge. There's an almost paternal, comforting back story that works it's way to the surface that serves to prove that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Cantwell creates a dark place for his characters to inhabit and even scarier, suggests that some of them may like being there. Culbard's art belies that darkness. His cartooning style is bright and pliable, but the light in the eyes of his characters hides a desperation and longing. Wands' letters give voice to that longing, helping the unease surround you. Everything is a modern story, looking at who we are through the lens of the '80s. After all this time, our desires are still sharp and often misplaced. Perhaps what we need to find is contentment, not happiness. Whether you find it in the love of your family, a new phone, or even this week's stack of comics, is up to you. Just don't forget who you are in the process.
Buy a complete pack of Everything Volume 1 in our webshop now. The trade paperbacks of Everything Volume 1 and Volume 2 are available now.