This week’s main review is Kill Your Darlings #1, out now from Image Comics. Plus, the Wednesday Comics Team has its usual rundown of the new #1s, finales and other notable issues from non-Big 2 publishers, all of which you can find below … enjoy!
Kill Your Darlings #1
Writer: Ethan S. Parker and Griffin Sheridan
Artist: Bob Quinn
Letterer: John J. Hill
Publisher: Image Comics
Review by Tim Rooney
The new Image Comics series Kill Your Darlings, written by Ethan S. Parker and Griffin Sheridan, with art by Bob Quinn and letters by John J. Hill, is an ambitious mix of fantasy and tragic coming-of-age. The creators make strong use of the unique language of comics to combine reality and imagination with tragic and gripping consequence. The result is a chilling premiere that leaves us wondering how make-believe young Rose’s childhood adventures are.
Kill Your Darlings is a descendant of portal fantasy classics like The Wizard of Oz or The Chronicles of Narnia, where children cross into fantastic realms that blur the line between truth and fantasy. In a way that is only possible in comics, we experience images of eight-year-old Rose’s imagination side-by-side the dour reality of her homelife. Because each exists at the same time on the page, we are forced to question how much Rose believes in her fantasies, and how much we should believe in them. The issue’s tragic final moments leave it purposefully ambiguous, particularly in the context of the issue’s seemingly unrelated opening scene, where a young girl is burned at the stake for witchcraft. It could be a hint that magic is real or a commentary about how society treats those who struggle with understanding the line between truth and fiction.
Parker and Sheridan’s script makes it clear why Rose retreats into her imagination. Her mother is struggling with bills and is too exhausted to give her daughter the attention she craves. In her imagined stories, Rose can be a beloved warrior queen around which her kingdom’s narrative revolves. Though her mother tries to hide the truth, Rose clearly understands more than she lets on. But the indefatigable optimism of youth and the safety of stories allows her to escape the anxiety. Perhaps too much. What begins as a celebration of the power of fantasy to provide an escape becomes a warning of indulging too strongly in that escape.
Bob Quinn’s art grounds and enhances a fairly straightforward first chapter. His choice of colors presents a clear break between realities. The real world is drab and desaturated, with only Rose’s room presenting any warmth and comfort. The land of imagination is a pastel paradise of pinks and verdant greens until they become awash in red. His layouts vary slightly between the two, as well, with sweeping vistas and panels full of critters in the fantasy realm. The real world exists in tight close-ups and empty rooms.
Quinn’s layouts and pacing particularly add to the tension of the issue’s climax. As the already thin barrier between reality and fantasy breaks down, Quinn intercuts moments of one with the other. Hill’s letters also bridge that gap, with Rose’s narration of her fantasy story overlapping images of her waking life. The slight variance in word balloons between how the creatures of fantasy and people in the real world speak bleed together. Rose wanders through the once joyful and perfect kingdom as it runs neon red with blood, while we see images of an abandoned home. In the real world, her body moves seemingly without her knowing.
A dark force is at work, but is it magic, or something that lives within Rose? The true nature of the tragedy remains a mystery. By mining familiar fantasy trappings, the creative team has crafted a compelling and tragic first issue that asks big questions about the stories we tell ourselves.
VERDICT: Buy
Wednesday Comics Reviews
Crusader #1 (Mad Cave Studios): Crusader, written and illustrated by Matt Emmons with letters by Andriy Lurkin, takes a look at the violence of the Crusades under the religious zealotry that motivated many. Our protagonist, the Crusader, adheres to the mantra “Never retreat in battle under pain of moral sin.” He abides and bloodies his blade in the name of religion believing himself to be doing God’s work. His fanaticism takes him to a strange new land full of fantastical creatures, the Beastland, setting the hook for his adventure as he seeks a way back home. Encountering a little green creature named Grimbel, he has a companion and guide and the story takes on a quality reminiscent of “The Mandalorian” as it sets up the Crusader’s journey. Emmons’ line work lends itself well to the violence and fantasy he plays in here as blood and limbs fly from humans and fantasy creatures alike. The lettering perfectly complements the art and as the antagonists are introduced, Lurkin really gets the room to play, bouncing different fonts off of each other to distinguish the voices on the page. Crusader seems to be headed for more blood on this adventure and Emmons’ and Lurkin’s work together will certainly make it an adventure to read. —Khalid Johnson- Hunt for the Skinwalker #1 (BOOM! Studios): If you are absolutely terrified of all things UFO/alien abduction, you need to pick up this book. Written by Zac Thompson, illustrated by Valeria Burzo, colored by Jason Wordie, and lettered by Joe Sabino, Hunt for the Skinwalker #1 is a natural heir to spooky alien abduction held by movies like Fire In The Sky and more recently Nope. It’s set in a rural area with captions made to look a typed incident report, all of which lends it a grounded feel of spooky plausibility. But where the terror really kicks in here is when we get a more colorful idea of what’s happening the books second half. Just a wonderful job all around, but Burzo and Wordie are a fantastic pair for this type of story. The cover by Martin Simmonds is also a pitch-perfect unnerving tone-setter. —Zack Quaintance
- Project Cryptid #1 (AHOY Comics): This issue kicks off the latest AHOY adventure into the world of anthologies, and as with previous installments, they’ve got a solid showing of creators and stories, three of which are included here. The first stars a cowardly asshole and the men he hires to bring him up the Himalayas, where they may or may not encounter a Yeti. It’s a brief tale, but one that speaks to Mark Russell’s comedic chops, especially by the ending. Jordi Pérez uses a wispy brushstroke that makes every line feel as though it’s about to blow away into the wind. Poppy colors come from Madeline Seely and emotive letters are by Rob Steen. Paul Cornell brings more humor with the second story here, featuring a Navy Seal turned LAPD Officer who partners up with a Mongolian Death Worm in a strange buddy cop pairing. I never thought I’d feel sympathy for a giant worm, but here we are. PJ Holden provides tight lineart, along with colors from Mike Spicer and letters by Steen. The third piece is the first in an exquisite corpse serial that’ll run through every issue, and we’re starting out with a chapter written by Grant Morrison, with an illustration by Jon Proctor. Morrison writes about a murder case in a pulpy noir style that honestly didn’t do much for me. The descriptions are vivid, but they feel overwhelming, with too much detail provided to comprehend what’s happening. It’s an interesting voice to write from, but not something that spoke to me. Overall though, a solid opening entry to this series. –Cy Beltran
- Tear Us Apart #1 (Dark Horse Comics): This’ll all make sense when you remember those scholastic notebooks you drew half-demon/half-angels in and all the MCR lyrics you wrote down. This book, brought to you by writers Van Jensen and Jay Baruchel, is vicious, bleak, and edgy in all the ways I don’t want it, but you might if you’re nostalgic for those emo days! It might be a YA Logan’s Run, but not really. Or Romeo + Juliet with dark fantasy kung fu, but only on paper. Disconnected is how Tear Us Apart reads with little to no build on the key romantic relationship, but a heavy handed, repeated bible-thumping of the antagonist’s cult manifesto. TW for cult deprogramming and indoctrination, because there’s plenty! The creators also found a way to damsel the lead female character [her name: Eighty-Two] in the first issue. It’s not all dark and grim 2000s comic though, as illustrator Alessandro Micelli brings a rough, spot color quality to this suffering world. Blue to dilute any warmth, red for blood, and purple for magic– Micelli’s inkwashes carry a dry copic tooth to them that adds energy to any shot, though shot selection also feels disconnected; far too many wide shots to be entirely coherent or feel like it’s representing much more than play-by-play. Not to mention the lack of direction letterer Taylor Esposito must be placed under where the dialogue balloons feel proper, but the sfx goes superheroic when the scene is giving prestige tv horror. Doubly hurts when it seems Team Tear Us Apart barely uses sfx and mostly for dramatic effect. If what you want is two human-wolves tearing their way through snow, but drawn like that Gerard Way cover to Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, then this might be for you! —Beau Q.
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