Title: Clinic of Horrors
Type: Webcomic
Year: 2021-?
Country: It’s complicated (distributed team; comic’s original language is English)
Genre: Horror/Comedy/Dystopia/Sci-Fi
Status: Ongoing (review as of chapter #116)
Platform: Webtoon (read here)
Appropriate for 30+?: Maybe
My rating: 2.5/5 stars
(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)
The early chapters of Clinic of Horrors are real rough. The dialogue is so clunky the comic reads like a mediocre fan translation of an East Asian series, the comedy element is weak, the bizarre setting (while intriguing) is barely explored, the art is bright and snazzy but anatomically questionable and lacking in details, and there’s no character development or plot to speak of (the format is monster-of-the-week, but with each chapter only being a few panels long each concept is introduced then resolved in the blink of an eye, like if Black Mirror tried to make TikTok shorts). Fortunately the series improves dramatically as it progresses, especially once the chapters get longer, more is revealed about the setting, and an overarching plot kicks in.
Unfortunately the progression is only enough to drag the series out of “not good” to “just okay albeit with potential.” There’s a definite attempt to tell a dark dystopian, anti-capitalist/anti-monopolist sci-fi tale, but unfortunately the quality is still a bit lacking. While there are some interesting ideas being played with, none of them are all that original, and while this particular concoction of concepts is perhaps unique, each individual dystopian/horror/sci-fi concept has already been explored much better in other works. For example there’s a plotline about a fungus that is taking over people’s bodies, effectively killing and turning them into zombies, to create a mycorrhizal network of sorts; this is an interesting enough premise except that it was resolved when the protagonist dumps a handful of antibacterial vaccine vials into the water supply and triggers the sprinkler system (which is… incorrect on so many fronts). If the art were truly bad (like, early chapters of Tower of God-bad) I doubt Clinic of Horrors would have ever gotten off the ground, because the other aspects of the series are definitely not good enough to carry the series.
However, that’s not to say Clinic of Horrors is completely without merit. If you’re looking for a bubblegum series with bright and colorful art, short and easily-digestible chapters, and a mildly-creepy pop-sci-fi setting, this series isn’t a bad way to burn an hour or so (the chapters, especially at the beginning, are really short, so even at over a hundred chapters you should be able to blow through the whole series in one sitting). There’s nothing in particular that stood out to me as “older audiences won’t enjoy this” other than the series’s general mediocrity. Because it is so short and such easy reading, I’ll probably stick with the series and hope that it continues to improve.
As always, this review is nothing more than my personal opinion. Anyone familiar with this work is encouraged to express their own in the comment section. Or submit your own review… it’s a free country fediverse.