Hollow Heart is a 2021 Horror comic book series written by Paul Allor and illustrated by Paul Tucker, published by Vault Comics. It ran for six issues.
Hollow Heart is about EL, a re-animated mess of human organs stuffed in an exo-suit, that is being experimented on by a shadowy organization. Despite EL's many attempts to escape, he is tethered to the secret location. Just when EL starts to give up hope, an exo-suit mechanic named Mateo connects with EL in a way he could have never expected. As they both fall in love with each other, Mateo offers EL a chance to escape the facility, but can EL truly break free?
Described as a "queer monster love story", Hollow Heart is "about the choices we make between giving our loved ones what they want and giving them what they think they need."
This series has the following tropes:
- Artificial Zombie: EL is collection of human organs that have been re-animated and then put into a Powered Armor suit. It's indicated that he was not the first zombie experiment of the organization but is the first to gain consciousness.
- Cast Full of Gay: Almost every character, including EL, is queer in some fashion.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: What EL endures daily as a living experiment.
- Color Motif: Pink; the color is prominent on every cover and EL's skin is pink as well. This is fitting as pink is a color associated with LGBT people and despite this being a horror comic, it is also about love.
- Death Seeker: Mateo knows EL's attempts to escape are a way of EL trying to put himself out of his misery - if he leaves the location, his powered suit will stop working and he will die.
- Downer Ending: EL comes to realize that his escape from the lab to the safe house was just another experiment, and upon his forced return to the lab, he kills every major character in the story, including Mateo in an attempt to truly die. Unfortunately, he manages to survive and ends up an yet another experimentation lab where his hell will continue. The only relief he has is escaping into his consciousness to be with Mateo again.
- The Empath: Mateo is described as one, to his benefit and to his detriment. He goes along with the "escape" experiment plan in hopes of giving EL some sort of freedom from the torture and to be with him, but he comes to realize this was cruel and there was no escape for EL other than death.
- Gone Horribly Right: EL's "escape" from the laboratory to the safe house was supposed to be an experiment to improve his senses and build his exo-suit stronger than ever. So when EL escapes from the safe house, he is very hard to subdue and ends up killing Donnie. And in a sadder sense, since his suit was upgraded, EL's plan to burn along with the lab and the staff there fails as his suit protects him from the fire.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: EL, the re-animated human mishmash, is the most sympathetic character in the series. Every human character (including Mateo to an extent) is not concerned with the ethics of what they're doing and subject EL to excruciatingly painful experiments.
- I Cannot Self-Terminate: EL's attempts to end his life fail due to his life support suit being tethered to the location and him being caught and re-captured every time. Even his final attempt fails, and he ends up in another laboratory, certain to be experimented on again and again.
- Interspecies Romance: A romance develops between Mateo (human) and EL (a human zombie-type creature).
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Mateo is ultimately still on the antagonists' side in that he is running experiments on EL, but Mateo is in love with EL and thinks that keeping him away from his original facility will be to his benefit.
- Mad Scientist Laboratory: The base where EL is kept is this, and EL wasn't the only experiment there...
- Maternally Challenged: Holly has a child with her wife Tamara, but she even tells Tamara right in front of their son that it was her idea to have a kid and not hers. But she does reveal she would watch EL and Mateo in the safe house by driving by under the guise of taking her son to a Suck E. Cheese's-type restaurant and she got closer with him.
- Motivational Lie: Mateo lies to EL about his "escape" and confinement in the Safe House so they can gather data and make improvements on his suit. Mateo at least does it in part so EL can be free of the torture.
- Nebulous Evil Organisation: The goals of the laboratory, or if it's connected to the government or another organization is never revealed.
- Redemption Equals Death: It is implied in the last issue that Mateo lets himself get killed in the fire EL starts due to lying to him about the safe house being another experiment.
- The Reveal: In issue #4, Mateo helps EL escape from the lab and to a safe house, where they spend weeks together in love while Mateo improves EL's exo-suit and helps him develop his cognitive abilities. However, as EL realizes, his "escape" was all planned out by Mateo, Donnie and Holly as another experiment to develop his skills outside the lab.
- Sci-Fi Horror
- Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Donnie, one of the guards at the scientific facility is has a gruff asshole exterior, but on the inside he is sad and lonely. Despite this, he pushes people away constantly, including Mateo whom he dated at one point.
