This week’s Wednesday Comics Reviews column features a finale issue with The Moon Is Following Us #10, a debut with Be Not Afraid #1, and more. We also look ahead at a new title eligible for pre-order, Sisterhood #1. Plus, as always, The Prog Report!
The Moon Is Following Us #10
Writer: Daniel Warren Johnson
Creators & Artists: Daniel Warren Johnson & Riley Rossomo
Colorist: Mike Spicer
Letterer: Shawn Lee
Publisher: Image Comics
Review by Jordan Jennings
Note: This review will discuss the entire The Moon is Following Us series as this issue works as the conclusion of the long running themes present throughout this series. As such, expect spoilers regarding the themes of the series and the nature of a couple twists.
The Moon Is Following Us #10 is the conclusion to Daniel Warren Johnson and Riley Rossomo’s highly emotional and action packed series. DWJ has a way of writing emotionally charged stories be it about wrestlers, amazonians, or even robots in disguise. He just has a level of touch that few writers manage to find in their careers. The Moon is Following Us is no different.
The series focuses on the husband and wife team of Duncan and Sam battling to save their daughter Penny from an eternal slumber. Penny has been stricken by sleep paralysis as a result of her dreams being overtaken by the Cascade, a demon horde that seems intent on capturing the young child’s mind. Along the way Duncan and Sam come to realize that what they are battling are not just some random demonic attack but instead of their own personal trauma they have projected onto Penny.
This is where DWJ finds the emotional hook in the bombastic, heavy metal fantasy series. On the surface the series is about battling demons in the dreamworld and the other shenanigans that go along with that., Just look at one of the main characters in the first half of the series, Brio. He is a one-eyed frog that is the imaginary projection of Penny’s favorite stuffed frog. Yet, under it all the series is about what parents are willing to do for their child and how their own problems can project on their kids.
Let’s be clear this isn’t the same type of generational trauma that has been overabundant in the media. It feels different. The trauma is varied. One of the Cascade demons is the embodiment of Sam not fully grieving and accepting her own mom’s passing. That did hit a nerve with me personally, as I am approaching the 10th anniversary of my mom’s passing. I cannot deny that this story resonated with me and made me question my own trauma’s impact on my children. It is a fantastical world in these pages, but like always, Daniel Warren Johnson finds that lighting rod that gives the story an emotional grounding.
The other Cascade demon is the embodiment of Duncan’s trauma, a much more dire and serious one. Duncan is heavily implied to be a victim of sexual assault by a family member. It is never explicitly stated or shown but it is implied through the context in the story. That trauma has stricken Duncan with PTSD that has consumed him. His inability to discuss it, for fear of making it “real” and something that can happen to Penny, has consumed him. In The Moon Is Following Us #9, we see Duncan sacrifice himself to this trauma and depression in an effort to save Sam and Penny from the horde. It is a shocking ending and one that left me scrambling to read the last issue.
The Moon Is Following Us #10 focuses on Penny, now awake, going back to save her dad and showing that she can help him break through that void that has consumed his life. DWJ has Penny represent this brightness in the void that can help him see the world isn’t so dark and that not everything is sinister. While Penny is successful, there has been a toll taken on Duncan.
DWJ plays around with the notion of what parents sacrifice for their children. Throughout the early chapters Duncan is concerned with losing themselves in this battle while Sam has a near insatiable bloodlust. At first it appears Duncan is timid and afraid of taking lives but also losing their own life, but in reality it’s about losing their morals and self-worth. It is until the midpoint that Sam realizes what they were doing was fruitless. This is contrasted with the elderly Tash who presents himself as an aide and adviser, but instead we learn that he has also lost his daughter to this same illness and is using Duncan, Sam, and Penny as fuel to resurrect his daughter. Tash was willing to sacrifice his morals and beliefs in a selfish attempt to get what he wanted. Yet, Duncan rather sacrifices himself to save Penny than inflict pain on others.
The complex themes and plot twists weave together to produce something special here in The Moon Is Following Us. The art makes all of these elements work even better. The series features split art duties by DWJ and Riley Rossomo and this is one of the rare moments in comics where two artists collaborate on a level that I have difficulty distinguishing between the artist on different pages. Both artists use this expressive and dynamic figure work with equally expressive and bold ink styles. Yet, their styles are so compatible that it just works as a homogeneous mixture.
The seamless nature of the line work is aided by frequent DWJ collaborator, colorist Mike Spicer. Spicer’s colors are beautiful here, as always. His color palette helps differentiate the dream world from the real one but also expertly provides the mood and tone for each scene. A real standout moment in Issue 10 was when Penny goes to save Duncan from his own grief and despair. Spicer has her be this radiant ball of love and joy that literally illuminates the world around him and pierces the void. It is so damn good and I just love how he makes the art look.
There are some visual motifs that DWJ and Rossomo come back to several times throughout the story. First is the eponymous Moon. Several times we see this scene on the bridge where Penny declares to the family that “The Moon Is Following Us”. That Moon comes to symbolize a lot of things in the story but namely the weight of the past, be it good or bad. It follows the individual through their lives, casting its shadow on them. How the person interprets the moon is up to them. Penny chooses for it to represent joy and warmth. It is a great ending to a great series.
The Moon is Following Us is an excellent series and a must read for fans of Daniel Warren Johnson and/or Riley Rossomo. It is rich in visual and symbology. The themes DWJ and Rossomo use throughout the story are deeply resonate as a father and a comic fan. Beneath the bombastic and vibrant art is a story full of wonder and beauty. This final issue brings it all to a rightful conclusion and a satisfying one at that. I highly recommend checking this comic out. It’s that great.
Be Not Afraid #1
Writers: Jude Ellison S. Doyle
Artist: Lisandro Estherren
Colorist: Francesco Segala and Gloria Martinelli
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Review by Jared Bird
A brand new horror series from acclaimed horror writer Jude Ellison S. Doyle (Maw) with art by the fantastic Lisandro Estherren (Redneck), Be Not Afraid goes straight for the throat in a deeply unnerving, tense and scary first issue.
Cora Reims was a simple, isolated farm girl, until one beautiful summer day when she was blessed by a visit from an Angel of pure light. In the aftermath of the angel’s visit, Cora gave birth to a child ; the offspring of an angel and human, seemingly imbued with the very nature of evil itself, nothing less than a monster. Seventeen years later, his beautiful appearance can no longer hide his true nature. Crops rot in his presence, men go mad at his words. On the eve of his eighteenth birthday, Cora is blessed with yet another vision, and has to face the evil that she gave birth to. Equal parts southern gothic folk horror and surreal, nightmarish cosmic horror, this series is exactly up my alley and deeply appeals to my main interests within the genre. It’s gripping from the first page, riddled with a razor-sharp sense of tension and a breathless discomfort that makes every page turn feel like the precipice of disaster.
Doyle does an incredible job with the story and script. He manages to balance moments of shocking horror and violence without feeling exploitative or ruining the atmosphere of the book. He gives you enough from each major character that they feel immediately memorable and compelling, and isn’t afraid to leave things left unsaid or up to the interpretation of the audience. There’s a moment around 3/4s of the way through the issue that is so incredibly visceral and uncomfortable, invoking The Texas Chainsaw Massacre but with a supernatural spin that completely works. This book feels like a nightmare, and you’re placed right in Cora’s shoes as she sees her monstrous son at work. It leaves enough questions that you can’t help but want to continue reading, but doesn’t quickly delve into pay-off either. This is a series to pay attention to, and I have a feeling details will matter, because it doesn’t show its hand too quickly.
Estherren, aided by colorists Francesco Segala and Gloria Martinelli, as well as letterer Simon Bowland, is a huge part of why the book works as well as it does. Estherren is no stranger to the realm of horror comics, but he does an incredible job here. Every page is coated with a sense of nauseating dread and unease, with every panel coming off as not quite ‘right’ in a way that feels completely deliberate and utilised to the best extent possible. There’s something deeply uneasy about the page whenever Cora’s son is present, and it comes across as effortless and incredibly powerful, like the visuals can’t work right around him because he’s just that ‘wrong.’ Cloaked in a southern gothic aesthetic sensibility, and a sense of dynamic surrealism, it’s a tremendous showing from the art team.
Overall, Be Not Afraid #1 kicks the door down in its first issue. A nightmarish work of southern gothic, intermingled with religious cosmic horror, it might not appeal to everyone but it entirely appealed to me. It’s tense from the very first page, building a pervasive sense of fear and dread until it shows its hand and begins its story truly. It takes time to set up characters and themes, and isn’t afraid to trust its audience. It knows it’s scary, but it also knows it’s good, and I massively appreciate how self-assured it is, because this book flies off the page, like an Angel, or perhaps something else entirely.
Rapid Wednesday Comics Reviews
Endless Night #1 (Mad Cave Studios): Endless Night is billed as the culminating crossover event of writer Mark London’s various interconnected Mad Cave series. It’s an intimidating idea, at first, but this issue stands on its own as an effective introduction to Exit City. The premise is set up right away, with a billionaire villain given a chance to join a mysterious cult that rules in the shadows. I, myself, have not read each of London’s earlier series but I never felt lost or confused. Indeed, the mysteries and partial details made me curious to read those previous books. London gives each main character a memorable entrance that immediately highlights their personalities and skills. Tom Derenick’s art is crucial to making it all work, though. There’s a dynamism to his layouts and his characters are expressive and distinctive. Our bad guy, Axel Black, makes a smirking face in the first few pages that paints him as instantly irritating. That expressiveness combined with Derenick’s composition orient us immediately to the characters and how they relate to the world. Derenick has a talent for utilizing place to set a scene, changing perspectives and angles to situate characters in their environments. Then there’s the gruesome gore and gnarly monsters that he draws, which take a familiar noir setup into macabre territory. It’s a fun mashup of genres; scifi, fantasy, monster movies and grizzled detectives all blended together in a hopeless, Blade Runner style urban nightmare. Juancho Velez’s colors are just as critical to the mood as the line work. The shifts in colors between scenes accentuate the emotion and tension, from the sinister cold blues of Axel Black’s monitors to the red, bloody viscera that pops against the green and violets of a hotel crime scene. It’s no easy feat to make a book with this many characters legible but Simon Bowland’s lettering keeps it manageable even as the cast expands with every page. The first issue of Endless Night isn’t revolutionary but it is a compelling thriller with a cast of misfits who shouldn’t be in a room together, which is always a recipe for fun stories. —Tim Rooney
FOC Watch
The following title is currently available for pre-order through Monday, June 9. If you’re interested, let your local shop know now!
Sisterhood #1
Writer: Maytal Zchut
Artist: Leila Leiz
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Publisher: Image Comics – Ghost Machine
Due Out: July 2, 2025
If you’re an every-Wednesday-comics-shopper, this week is your last chance to pre-order the new Ghost Machine title, Sisterhood #1, before the book’s final order cutoff on Monday, June 9. This new series is from writer Maytal Zchut, artist Leila Leiz, colorist Alex Sinclair, and letterer Rob Leigh, and it comes with a familiar setting for the Ghost Machine faithful, taking place in the publishing imprint’s Hyde Street world.
We’ve seen an unfinished PDF of the book, and it’s a horror story centered on two childhood friends who were so close that they became like sisters. As they got older, they drifted apart, but the story in this comic brings them back together after a tragic accident — just not with them both in the realm of the living.
If you’re a horror fan, chances are that Ghost Machine’s Hyde Street titles have become must-read stuff for you, and Sisterhood #1 should be no exception. Get this book on your pull list now.
Prog Watch
2000AD 2435 (Rebellion Publishing): The headliner for this week’s Prog is once again Silver, a strip that reminds you not to get comfortable with where you think it’s headed, because as soon as you do, something disturbing and gnarly and wholly shocking is coming your way. That’s certainly what we get in this week’s installment from the team of writer Mike Carrol, artist Joe Currie, and letterer Simon Bowland. We get a truly disturbing bout of gritty horror cartooning in this one, all in the context of the personal grudge and worldwide war that’s been driving our larger narrative. I’m running out of ways to praise Silver, which continues to be my favorite strip in The Prog all year. This week’s cover (above) is by Toby Willsmer. As always, you can pick up a digital copy of The Prog here. —Zack Quaintance
This column is compiled and edited by The Beat’s reviews editor, Zack Quaintance.
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