The Juniper Lodge
A murderous cowboy, monstrous bugs, characters and places that may or may not exist—all this and more waits within the pages of this strange and unsettling anthology collection.
Created by Dustin Weaver and with the additional talents of Jeremy Barlow and D.J. Bryant, The Juniper Lodge collects 5 stories from Weaver’s anthology series PAKLIS, also released by Image Comics. Though tonally similar, each episode stands entirely on its own, making this a perfectly viable entry point for any reader not familiar with Weaver’s work.
Though “the Juniper Lodge” story sits at the heart of the collection, the first entry brings readers back to the wild west, where a gun demands sacrifice and a man facing execution finds that his hopes of salvation may come drenched in blood. Each new narrative delivers a surreal mix of body horror and monsters alongside mystery, fractured realities, and unraveling psychological uncertainty among characters struggling to separate the real from the fantastic. The stories embrace their own ambiguity, leaving a great deal unresolved by each finale and stranding the reader amidst the grotesqueries of each new world. With all three writers taking the lead at various points, some stories offer shades of Kafka while others play out with more noir tones. There are flashes of superhero lore, and visual elements of scifi and cyberpunk woven throughout. But even with all the strangeness unfolding across each page, the core themes remain close to characters in crisis, each reckoning with a world that is not what they once believed it to be.
While the writing rotates hands, Weaver creates the visuals across each new chapter. The realism of the art shifts between stories, with some more polished and others feeling more textured on the page. Further capturing the tone of the volume, Weaver plays with color palates and perspectives to sometimes change and sometimes distort the reader’s experience. One scene may appear normal; a few panels later, we’re confronted with bulging eyes, twisting hallways, a floating grin that lingers where a stranger once crouched. Weaver’s art establishes the familiar and then breaks it, luring the reader into the horrors. The volume also ends with some bonus content, exploring the comics industry and what it takes to make the leap from big superhero titles to a book like this, providing insights into Weaver’s artistic journey.
Image gives The Juniper Lodge a Mature rating. There’s violence and death, graphic nudity, sexual content, and horror imagery aplenty over the course of the five stories, so this one is more suited for adults. This collection offers a fascinating trip through a series of vivid worlds and distinct characters. As is sometimes the case with anthology comics, the pieces of Juniper Lodge may feel undeveloped, leaving readers searching for a coherent whole. The stories do not resolve neatly, and some feel cluttered with too many moving pieces and big ideas to follow as effectively as I would have liked for myself. But for any reader who wants the blend of science fiction, mystery, and horror wrapped up in nightmare landscapes where nothing is certain, The Juniper Lodge will provide a memorable ride. It will likely have the most appeal to readers who have enjoyed Prince’s Ice Cream Man or Walsh’s The Silver Coin—and possibly some of Junji Ito’s shorter works alongside.
In the end, The Juniper Lodge was a bit too abstract for my tastes, but no one can accuse the volume of being boring. For the right reader, I expect these five stories could be exactly the sort of portal they’re looking for.
The Juniper Lodge
By Dustin Weaver, Jeremy Barlow, and D.J. Bryant
Art by Dustin Weaver
Image, 2026
ISBN: 9781534331020
Company Age Rating:Â M
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+)
