Silent Hill: Dying Inside

Dying Inside is the first Silent Hill comic published by IDW Publishing, with art by Ben Templesmith (#1 and #2) and Aadi Salman (#3 to #5), and authored by Scott Ciencin. It was later included on the UMD The Silent Hill Experience.

This story was originally released as a five-issue limited series and was later collected and released in a single volume trade paperback. The first two dealt with a doctor and patient, while the remaining three issues covered the tale of a punk girl and her group of friends.

Plot
A film student returns from a filming trip in the abandoned town of Silent Hill and is suffering from delusions. Sought out by a colleague for help, a psychiatrist takes the girl back to Silent Hill, hoping it will shake the girl from her condition. Both the student and doctor disappear, but the girl's footage falls into the hands of a punk rocker and her gang of friends. The group heads to Silent Hill, though they have little clue as to what waits for them there.

Issues

 * Dying Inside, Pt. 1 - Lynn DeAngelis is a film student who traveled to Silent Hill for video footage. Upon her return, she begins to suffer from delusions and post-traumatic stress. Troy Abernathy, a psychiatrist-turned self-help author is called upon by a colleague to help Lynn, as nothing tried so far has worked. Nothing Abernathy tries works, so as a last resort, the doctor takes the girl back to Silent Hill.


 * Dying Inside, Pt. 2 - Abernathy's attempt at pulling Lynn out of her stupor is successful, but the pair are now trapped inside the town of Silent Hill, being pursued by a young girl who is able to command the monstrous denizens of the town.


 * Dying Inside, Pt. 3 - Lynn has escaped the terror of Silent Hill at the cost of Abernathy's life. Raymond Foch, once employed at the hospital Lynn was committed to, had stolen the video footage the girl shot there. Now, Raymond, nicknamed Clown, his girlfriend and a large group of their friends head off to the abandoned town to explore.


 * Dying Inside, Pt. 4 - Christabella, the young girl able to manipulate the forces of Silent Hill, reveals her purpose for allowing Lynn to escape with her footage; she intended it to be used to draw Lauryn LaRoache, her older sister, back to their hometown. A power struggle is occurring within the deranged town, and Christabella intends to win.


 * Dying Inside, Pt. 5 - Events come to a conclusion as Lauryn, desperate to end the dark times that have befallen Silent Hill, is forced into a confrontation with the Order and the mysterious Whately.

Reception


Dying Inside received | primarily | mixed reviews, with | issue 3 seeming to be the most well-received of the bunch. Criticism was mostly focused on a lack of consistent character development and poor artwork, while praise was directed at the story concept and the various plot twists.

Internet comedian Lewis "Linkara" Lovhaug reviewed Dying Inside on his webshow "Atop the Fourth Wall" – a show dedicated to making fun of bad comics. He gave it a bad review, citing that he believed it to contain lazy artwork, unlikeable characters and a convoluted storyline with numerous outlying plotholes:
 * Part 1
 * Part 2
 * Part 3