"Wytches" Review

          

        Horror comics (heck, Image Comics in general) weren’t really a thing I expected to be reading much of this year, given that Image has been somewhat lacking in recent years. Then I found cheap stuff on Amazon and the triple threat Warren Ellis-Declan Shavley-Jordie Bellaire took on Injection and here we are now. While Injection isn’t really a “horror” comic, today’s review certainly is. Have to squeeze a little something extra in for Halloween, right?

            Wytches bothers me mostly on principle that the series is over but the series ends on a note that makes me want more. And more. And then maybe a little more. Besides that? It’s a pretty fun little horror tale. While the elements in it are nothing new, it is an interesting delve into the world of magic or science, as well as throwing in a little bit of family drama.

            I was far more freaked out by it the first time I read it, but after reading it again, it still held up. The twists were still fresh and the artwork was simpler to get through than the first time, where I struggled to make sense of the first few panels. The story worked best when it was giving us the smallest droplets of the world around us, and also that these small droplets lead to the reader’s interpretation of things. I’ll get into that more a little later, though.

            This comic made me wish I was more of a horror fan. There is so much imagination that can be brought into a series like this. As I said, the concepts here are nothing particularly groundbreaking. I mean, you’ve got spooky forest people terrorizing a family. Seen that before. What makes it work? The characters and their clever dialogue.

            Our two main characters are Sail and Charlie Rooks, a father-daughter duo that has recently moved away from their old town in an attempt to try and quell Sail’s social anxiety. She may or may not have killed a person in the last town they were at. Did she? Well, I obviously won’t spoil things for you here, but needless to say Scott Snyder dives straight into Sail’s character from the get-go.

            Charlie and Sail’s relationship is one that is a joy to follow as we see it flourish throughout the series. What I like is that we do get flashbacks, but they are disjointed in time. The final flashback we get takes place in the middle of two previous ones. The flashbacks also directly relate to the events they are sharing at the present time. Their relationship is also fairly real, as the two have little in-jokes and cute moments whenever they can before the spooks come out to play. It’s clear that Sail is Charlie’s everything, and while at some points it makes it feel like Charlie might be obsessed with her, it’s also evident that he has focuses elsewhere, like with his career and with his wife, who he is also concerned about.

            Scott Snyder really shines in this series. He balances everything for the reader through Charlie. Got a best friend in the business? Let’s have a neat scene filling us in on backstory while also furthering their relationship. Got a wife that’s a little on edge? Well, Charlie is also caring a lot for her, as she was the one that picked the place and there is good teamwork between the two. The dialogue was really top-notch here, too. I know, it’s something a little weird to point out, but I feel it’s worth noting here. Everything felt natural, even when the spooky creatures were talking. There was a sense of formality yet simultaneously a sense of informality with everything. No word balloon ever felt forced or out of place. While toward the end of the series, as they tried to explain everything as quick as they could given issue space, dialogue felt a little more heavy-handed and the exposition was far more evident and less spaced-out.

            But, the ending of the series is where it hits its stride. The first issue is a great intro for everything (story, art, concept, level of anticipated horror) but things slowed up a bit to let our characters fall into an arena of suspense as the town falls apart around them. By the end, when situations are dire, things begin to come together in and interesting way, and again, Snyder is able to expertly weave all of the previous events together to create the change that Charlie and Sail have to go through.

            The pacing is a little strange, too. While there is good balance between flashback and present-day material as the series progresses, we start off a hundred years prior, then obviously jump ahead before making another month-long time skip between the first and second issues. From there, everything takes place on the same day. It doesn’t fully detract from the story but is something of obvious note.

            Speaking of which, the initial flashback really does feel out of place for a good while, and is only loosely tied in by the end (even then it’s kind of disappointing). It sets the tone, sure, as well as introduce the concept of the “wytches” and “pledging,” but it’s a forgettable sequence until brought back up, as we immediately shift over to Sail and Charlie talking and being enjoyable.

            I think my biggest gripe with the book is the art, and even then, I can’t call it bad, it’s just not my style. Jock does a fantastic job in the normal scenes of painting great images of an autumn in the town, and plays with shadows well later on as night falls on the town. He makes what would normally be a dull forest quite chilling, mixing dark blues with black, and positioning characters into the shadows, as well as keeping any ghouls hidden until they are meant to be revealed. So, in the regard of normal art, it’s great.

            However, any scene where the characters see something having to do with the wytches, or the aforementioned first few pages, is quite difficult to see. There’s a psychedelic look to it all, and while I get what he was going for, I just have a struggle seeing exactly what that is without having to stare at it for a while. Jock also abuses those shadows a little too much, sometimes, as it just becomes impossible to distinguish one figure from another, so it becomes quite the blur of the night. While it matches the tone, there’s hardly a tone anyway if there’s nothing to see.

            In the end, Wytches is a great introduction to horror comics for anyone interested in them, and if you’re familiar with the craft, you’ll still enjoy it. The elements brought to the table are masterfully used by Scott Snyder to make his concepts feel fresh and inviting. Jock provides solid support in the art section, mesmerizing at many points and taking full advantage of character expressions and backgrounds to really plant us in each panel…when things are visible. Though, it still adds to the unsettling atmosphere the book easily emits, and is a horror comic you won’t soon forget.

            And just remember: Pledged is pledged. 

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