Hollow be Thy Flesh

Hollowed be Thy Name is a three-spread black and white comic exploring identity, conformity, and self-destruction through horror and allegory. The story follows a protagonist who dreams of their flesh being torn apart and replaced with metal and wires. They wake in distress, trying to suppress the nightmare that mirrors their growing desire to change themselves to fit in. Their world is inhabited by anthropomorphic characters, blurring the line between humanity and constructed identity.

The first spread begins with the protagonist’s mechanical nightmare, a surreal sequence where their body is invaded by cables and replaced piece by piece. The second spread transitions into reality, showing their quiet despair as they interact with a horse-inspired neighbour rendered with looser, less detailed rendering to create a visual dissonance. This contrast symbolises the protagonist’s warped perception of the world and their deteriorating mental state. The final spread depicts the climax: they step willingly into a back-alley laboratory, greeted by a smiling scientist surrounded by robotic limbs and preserved organs. The last page closes on a single, haunting panel of the protagonist on the operating table; transformed, hollow, their human flesh replaced by machinery.

Rendered entirely in monochrome, the comic relies on heavy linework, deep blacks, and high contrast to amplify the horror and emotional tension. The stark palette symbolises the binary nature of conformity: to belong or to remain other.