There’s a fine line between gratuitous gore, violence, and sex, and mature content that is used to push the narrative. In Nine Stones, some readers may argue where the intense horror web series falls. Once you are invested in the story, however, your perspective on the mature comic might change.
Created by Samuel Spano, the story centers on Alistair “Allie” Jacobi. The 19 year old suffers from disturbing dreams featuring an enigmatic and frightening demon entity that seems to bring out the worst in him. As if that weren’t enough, the teen’s life is made even more complicated by the fact that his father is the boss of a criminal organization. Now the man wants his son to follow in his footsteps in the underworld of selling drugs throughout the city under the guise of convenience store deliveries.
Allie is partnered with Christopher, an older employee of his father’s. The pair’s relationship is quite contentious at first, with Chris disproportionately angry at Allie no matter what he does. Chris is just as complex as Allie, though, and before long their animosity turns into something much more intimate. Their bond will also affect Allie’s creepy dreams and premonitions.
Before diving into the Tapas series, be warned that it is graphic. It is bloody, it is violent, and there are explicit sexual encounters (those episodes are marked “uncensored” if you choose to skip them). The art, even though depicting horrific imagery at times, is fantastic, and the muted color palette puts you right in the center of the seedy underworld Allie is forced into. It also makes the panels with the teen’s dark visions and demon companion even more unsettling.
To begin reading Nine Stones, click here.
