DC Black Label’s horror imprint Hill House Comics has emerged from its pandemic hiatus with the final issue of Basketful of Heads. If you haven’t been keeping up with this series, it’s written by Joe Hill, with illustrations by Leomacs, colors by Dave Stewart, and letters by Deron Bennett, and uses the slasher tropes in a new and imaginative way where the final girl finds her power and hunts down her multiple attackers. Last issue ended with June Branch being beaten and thrown overboard after finally finding her abducted boyfriend. Now, in Basketful of Heads #7 it’s time for a final swing of the axe.
In the darkest, coldest hours of the night, June finds herself up against the dead-eyed killer who abducted her boyfriend and coming back from a fight that left her at a disadvantage. Over the course of Basketful of Heads #7, she also comes face to face with some truths even more horrifying than the heads she’s carrying around. In the opening, June is dropping to the bottom of the bay with the other bodies that rubbed the Sheriff the wrong way. While she falls, so does her axe.
What happens in the rest of the issue is a conclusion best left unexposed. That said, June comes out the other side of this horror powerful. She makes her own decisions, she has agency, and she swings her axe with purpose and morality. There is much to love about June as a final girl and a slasher. She brings justice and judgment to the evil men around her. Every issue of this series has built her up, pushed her over the edge, and she’s come out stronger. We’ve seen her survival in the last few issues and it’s cathartic to see June pushing for a path not her boyfriend, but for her.
Additionally, the way Basketful of Heads #7 wraps up the story leaves no questions for readers. It ties the story up in a neat bow, even offering background for the Viking axe. In doing so, it closes the door for future iterations of June Branch, and for that, I’m thankful. Too often do series, especially horror series, end with an open-ended “until next time” moment, like how The Dollhouse Family, another Hill House Comics title, did last week. But here, Hill has written a beautiful and rewarding ending for June as much as the readers.
From the art to the letters and the writing, every part of Basketful of Heads #7 hits every horror bone in my body. I don’t say this lightly: Basketful of Heads as a series that deserves the film adaptation treatment. This finale is a masterful end to an equally amazing series. If you haven’t picked it up, there’s no better time than the present.
Basketful of Heads #7 is available now, where comics are sold.
Basketful of Heads #7
TL;DR
From the art to the letters and the writing, every part of Basketful of Heads #7 hits every horror bone in my body. I don’t say this lightly: Basketful of Heads as a series that deserves the film adaptation treatment. This finale is a masterful end to an equally amazing series. If you haven’t picked it up, there’s no better time than the present.
