Wytches: Bad Egg Halloween Special - Image Comics

WYTCHES: BAD EGG HALLOWEEN SPECIAL, OCTOBER 2018

Served “as both a stand-alone story in the Wytches world and a prequel to the highly anticipated Wytches Volume Two”, this sixty-six page story-line proved in October 2018 to be just as disturbingly disconcerting as its Eisner Award-winning creators’ previous six-issue mini-series, with its pulse pounding opening featuring a boy being fed to a monster housed in the back of an everyday transit van, and subsequent focus upon Sebastian’s increasingly close friendship with a neighbour who is destined to meet a similar fate down the bottom of a woodland pit. However, whereas in his previous storyline Scott Snyder seemed keen for his audience to piece together his unwholesome tale's grotesque puzzle for themselves, in this Halloween Special he seemingly prefers to tell the reader almost straightaway how the gore-fest will conclude, and then sits back as its palpable tension builds towards the comic’s frightening finale.

Interestingly though, just because the anticipated ending to this “horror-filled romp” is soon made evident doesn’t mean that it isn’t still packed full of plenty of surprises, as the relationship linking this book’s “two innocent teenagers reared on opposite sides of the eternal struggle between good and evil” continually appears to threaten the truly sickening plans of both boys’ parents; whether that be to have the teenage Seb brutally murder his schoolmate just before they attend a local slot-racing championship so as to end an “age-old blood feud”, or willingly present their “ripe” child to a mercilessly slavering forest-dwelling monster and then gleefully watch him being eaten alive… Indeed, perhaps this perturbing publication’s biggest hook is that despite Ruby and Karl’s best intentions their distressingly macabre machinations only ever partially reach fruition, making the American author’s narrative enthrallingly difficult to discern whether the cast’s various fates are already sealed or not.

Also infinitely adding to this tale’s foreboding aura of creepiness is Mark Simpson’s eerie-looking storyboards, which genuinely imbue even something as innocent as Jackson’s impressively large track layout down in his basement, or a seemingly innocuous school lesson in family trees, with an unnervingly oppressive atmosphere of dire dread and menace. Moderately masked by a gossamer veil of paint splatters and disconcerting light sources, Jock’s instantly recognisable drawings are particularly impactive when portraying the scarily-toothed monstrosity at the end of this tale, and the fiendishly fast creature’s gruesome demise at the hands of the child it was expecting to consume; “Go on, ‘Cough’ baby sister! Beg! Beg Me! Beg!”

Written by: Scott Snyder, Illustrated by: Jock, and Color by: Matt Hollingsworth

Wytches #6 - Image Comics

WYTCHES No. 6, May 2015

It is genuinely rare that a comic will contain so shocking and surprising a narrative that it requires an immediate second reading, simply in order to allow the bibliophile’s brain to comprehend and accept what they’ve just perused. Issue Six of “Wytches” is arguably capable of having just this affect though and in many ways makes Scott Snyder’s stated belief that this title “was going to be a dark one” a considerable understatement.

Weighing in with a hefty thirty-two pages, this edition’s storyline immediately throws Charlie Rooks and his daughter ‘straight in at the deep end’ as they tentatively but determinedly scour the seemingly endless tunnels of the title’s flesh-eating wytches for a way back to the ‘safety’ of the surface. Such a terrifying, scare-a-minute trek through the claustrophobically dark maze-like underground warren is perturbingly pulse-pounding and it is hard to imagine a more chillingly creepy beginning to a book than the opening third of this series’ concluding instalment.

However the dread felt as the magazine’s main protagonists encounter the necromancers truly hideous cannibal elders is as nothing when compared to the sense of sheer stark horror conveyed by the American author once the couple are actually attacked by the carnivorous ghouls and make a hair-raising dash up the tangled insides of a tree in order to escape the bulbous-eyed monsters. Such frantic fast-paced action is disappointingly over after just four pages. But for a short while at least, the New Yorker’s narrative is actually scary enough to stop all but the most-hardened of horror fans from taking a breath.

Having already raised the adrenalin-levels of this comic’s 34,259 strong audience, Snyder then manages to stun and astound them even further by revealing that Sailor was pledged to the grey-skinned monstrosities living in the wood by her very own mother, Lucy, just so the wheelchair bound invalid could walk again. The cold-hearted calculating killer has even ‘already packed her daughter’s things together’ so that when her offspring is devoured both parents can “just… burn the box” and “won’t even remember she [Sailor] existed.”

Numbed by such deplorable selfish treachery and choked by the pitiful look within the young girl’s tearful eyes as she begins to comprehend her mother’s betrayal, what follows next is the very best in heart-rending melodrama as the father chooses his ‘little girl’s life’ over that of a having “another chance” with his “healed” wife, and sacrifices himself to the “chit chit” gnashing teeth and claws of the demonic wytches; “Calling all monsters! I’m coming for you! Because I’m Charlie Rooks! Proud father of the greatest slayer of mythological beasts of all time!!”

Story: Scott Snyder, Art: Jock, and Colors: Matt Hollingsworth

Wytches #5 - Image Comics

WYTCHES No. 5, March 2015

Whilst creator Scott Snyder’s narrative for this penultimate instalment of “Wytches” is something of a far cry from any work by “The Master of Suspense” himself, it still contains some wonderfully ‘Alfred Hitchcock-like’ psychological moments as the title’s main protagonist becomes increasing paranoid and literally descends into a terrifying all-consuming madness. Indeed in many ways Charlie Rooks’ utter dismay at his wife’s denial that they ever had a daughter and realisation that the majority of the community within which he now lives is somehow part of a coven-based conspiracy creates some genuinely scary moments.

Equally as disturbing is the American author's ability to transform his narrative’s local, patient and ever-so friendly policeman, Mister Petal, into a totally deranged sadistic ‘selfish creature’, who upon discovering that Sailor’s father knows of his involvement in her abduction, becomes a seriously chilling guide as to where “these things in the ground” live. Arrogant and aloof, despite having had his jaw badly busted by Rooks, the sneering cop continues to disconcertingly inform his captor that the lone parent has “nowhere to escape to” until Charlie matter-of-factly shoots the bound, though apparently immortal lawman in the gut.

What follows next however is infinitely more unnerving, and in places genuinely makes the hairs upon the nape of the neck prickle. For having covered himself with a jar’s worth of “Stink” and loaded his pistol with “rat bullets”, due to them having “extra kick”, the determined ‘hero’ climbs down into the flesh-eating cannibals’ abode and starts to explore its dark twisting underground passageways in order to 'get his little girl back.'

Sadly such a tense, atmospheric and enthralling horror story is consistently ruined by the New Yorker frequently interrupting Rooks’ nervy traversal of the Wytches’ warren, with some rather tediously lack-lustre flashbacks to when Charlie’s wife, Lucy, was first recovering from her automobile accident. These scenes between father and daughter, brightly lit and dialogue-heavy, horribly jar with the dank gloomy fast-paced action of the writer's main storyline, and seem to serve no other purpose than to (once again) demonstrate just how poor a relationship Charlie once had with Sailor.     

Mark “Jock” Simpson’s artwork for these hospital-based sequences is just as disappointing as their interruptions are welcome, especially as the Scottish sketcher’s depictions of the quarrelling duo appear rather robotic and roughly drawn. Fortunately however, the East Kilbride-born penciller’s illustrations of Rooks grimly stalking the tunnels of the ghoul-faced “chit chit” anthropophagi are worryingly wonderful and there’s a real sense of menace about the bulbous-eyed skull-like creatures whenever they appear; “That’s right… they’re smelling you aren’t they? Yes, they are.”

Story: Scott Snyder, Art: Jock, and Colors: Matt Hollingsworth

Wytches #4 - Image Comics

WYTCHES No. 4, February 2015

It’s not entirely clear what creator Scott Snyder was trying to do with this title’s main protagonist in Issue Four of “Wytches”. But if the New Yorker’s intention was to alienate the “fun lovable guy” from the majority of the book’s 41,827 buyers, then he arguably does a very good job. For not only does the American author’s narrative depict Charlie Rook demonstrating a deplorable “darkness under the surface” by drunkenly endangering the life of his teenage daughter. But it also shows this supposedly “great character” becoming so manically deranged that he actually prevaricates with his caring selfless chair-bound wife whilst holding a “sticker.”

Admittedly such deeply damaged personalities appear to be rather popular within modern-day literature, especially those who somehow manage to not only overcome their own individual demons but great adversity as well. However it is genuinely hard to either support or empathise with a father who swears, curses and threatens his child until she starts gingerly climbing to the top of a perilously derelict Ferris wheel. Indeed, the inebriated parent is so obsessed that Sailor will be brave “today” that at one point he even hurls a bottle at the petrified girl’s feet whilst she’s ascending the Rickett’s Arcade ride.

Fortunately, upon realising that his ‘family are under attack’, the head of the Rook household does appear to exhibit one saving grace and that is his compelling determination to ensure that this time “I’m not letting it happen.” Such resolve to find the wizened woman who previously assaulted him and force her “to tell us where our daughter is” makes for enthralling drama, even if Charlie’s earlier unforgivable ill-treatment of his offspring does suggest that perhaps he’s not just acting out of selfless love but also guilt for his past misdemeanours.

Sadly, equally as flawed as this comic book’s lead character, is some of the artwork created by Mark “Jock” Simpson and Matt Hollingsworth. The creative team’s pages depicting Sailor’s terrifying experiences within a hollowed-out tree are absolutely superb, as are the pair’s panels showing the young girl’s father exploring a dilapidated house on the Here Coast. But disappointingly, the Scottish sketcher’s pencilling of the sedentary scenes between husband and wife are rather shoddily drawn. Whilst the Californian colorist’s overly-heavy application of ‘paint splatter’ across every page proves so dense in places that it actually completely hides part of the illustration underneath.

The variant cover art of "WYTCHES" No. 4 by Babs Tarr

Wytches #3 - Image Comics

WYTCHES No. 3, December 2014

It is not surprising that Scott Snyder begins his editorial for this title by stating “how overwhelmed (and stunned)” both he and the magazine’s creative team were that this book had ‘to go back to the press”. For its doubtful that any of the 43,240 purchasers of Issue Three of “Wytches” realised just how increasingly disappointing and unbelievably ‘choppy’ this “Image Comics” publication was going to become when this series first saw print.

Indeed without having an exhaustive recollection of the story’s previous two instalments, there is little doubt that any reader of such unfollowable meanderings will quickly get lost within the plot’s unrecognisable timeline. Especially as rather than resolve the double cliff-hanger from his prior periodical, the New Yorker instead takes any perusing bibliophile back to a time when the Rooks Family were playing ‘hide and seek’ within the claustrophobic confines of ‘The World’s Largest’ tube maze.

Flash forwards three years and Snyder abruptly jumps to a time when Charlie and Lucy are looking for their daughter in the woods having found the school bus she earlier stole crashed nearby. Anxious, fearful, angry and agitated the missing girl’s father is understandably upset when the Authorities question the veracity of his story about the “decrepit”, legless old woman who was terrorising him just hours earlier.

Followers of this book will almost certainly have been experiencing similar emotions for it is only now, a third of the way through the issue, that the American author finally starts to provide some pieces as to what has previously taken place to the frustrated parent… and even then the matter is dissatisfyingly resolved within the space of a handful of panels as Charlie admits to passing out when the 'crone' started torturing him “and when I woke up… there were no marks on me, and she was gone”.

Fortunately this terrifying trip into the writer’s childhood memories finally starts to gather momentum as the disillusioned protagonist decides to “go look for Sailor” on his own, and encounters an all too familiar hole within a tree from which a mutilated Reginald despairing calls for help. Desperate to aid the man, Charlie starts to bash the tree with a large rock only to discover that the “hollow wouldn’t fit a dog.” Disturbing, captivating stuff which is sadly ruined by Snyder once again inexplicably hurling events back in time without warning and midway through a page…

Equally as annoying as the New Yorker’s inability to keep the sequence of key events simple, is Matt Hollingsworth’s overly heavy application of “hero spatter” across the artwork of Mark Simpson. Admittedly at times the colorist’s initial manual sprinklings are rather atmospheric and impactive. But for the vast majority of this issue the watercolour and acrylic splodges actually make it rather hard to see Jock’s inks and more importantly, what is actually taking place within the panels.

The variant cover art of "WYTCHES" No. 3 by Declan Shalvey

Wytches #2 - Image Comics

WYTCHES No. 2, November 2014

For those readers who enjoy their comics taking them to ‘creepy, bone-chilling places’ then it is well worth persevering through the opening third of this somewhat disappointing instalment of Scott Snyder’s “fresh, contemporary, and much scarier” reimagining of “the mythology of witches”. For once the New Yorker’s narrative starts to focus upon Lucy Rook’s bygone motor vehicle accident and depicts her daughter Sailor bleeding out during a school swimming lesson, Issue Two of “Wytches” becomes a deeply disturbing, unnerving experience.

Indeed, whether it be the ghoulish-looking zombie Annie boasting that she “gotttt…you…”, the blood-shot eyed comatose victim Dylan momentarily waking to whisper "I can smell it on you", or the emaciated giant skull-faced witches who emerge from behind the trees in the local woodland, the America writer provides plenty of incentive for anyone perusing this periodical to be very “afraid to go to bed at night”. Even the man of the house, Charlie, isn’t safe from the scary shenanigans as some aged bald invalid, having left a trail of extracted human teeth on his lawn, savagely assaults him with one of her prosthetic limbs.  

Unfortunately however, before anything is encountered which “will really scare you to death”, buyers of this book will first have to endure a bitterly disappointing resolution to the previous publication’s extremely tense and sinister cliff-hanger. For having ended with Sailor seemingly being attacked by the undead corpse of a former school bully, this instalment bizarrely begins with the girl’s father frustratingly fixing a chair lift with “Uncle Reggie”? In fact such is the feeling of disconnect between this edition’s beginning and the conclusion of the preceding comic that doubtless many of its 58,345 buyers in November 2014 had to double-check to ensure they hadn’t inadvertently missed an issue.

Equally as dishearteningly lack-lustre, at least at the start of this book, is the artwork of Mark Simpson. Without the threat of something “bestial and primal” leaping up out of the page, Jock’s illustrations are disappointingly awkward-looking, even with Matt Hollingsworth’s wonderful spatterings of colour. But once the Scottish penciller starts drawing the grotesquely-shaped witches which exist “deep in the woods and prey on human flesh” then his panels take on a chillingly twisted unnatural life of their own.

The variant cover art of "WYTCHES" No. 2 by Declan Shalvey

Wytches #1 - Image Comics

WYTCHES No. 1, October 2014

Selling an impressive 67,996 copies upon its release in October 2014, this very ‘personal childhood journey’ by writer Scott Snyder is a decidedly disturbing comic book. One which despite containing strong sexual references, profanities and gore, actually owes most of its quite considerable ‘fear factor’ to the threat of it's narrative taking the reader out into the woods, alone at night, looking for the tell-tale signs of “witches and warlocks.”

However whereas such ‘fright-fests’ like “The Blair Witch Project” gradually build up to a spine-chilling climax, this magazine’s plot, inspired by the American author’s memory of a terrified friend seeing “something peeking out from behind a tree” at them whilst playing in the forest, throws the reader straight into a traumatising tragedy from the very first page. Indeed the memory of a facially mutilated mother, finding herself trapped within the trunk of a great tree and calling out to her nearby infant son for help will literally haunt any bibliophile for the rest of their read. Especially when her terrified desperate pleas are answered by the child giving their parent a dizzying blow to the head with a rock because “pledged is pledged.”

Fortunately Snyder’s storyline does somewhat calm down for a brief period, allowing the “Batman” scribe a little time with which to fill in some background details to his story’s main protagonists, Charlie and Sailor Rook. But before long, their family home has been invaded by a crazed tongue-biting wild deer and the perverted High School bully Annie makes the fatal mistake of going into the woods and getting far too close to a certain tree; “Help! Help! Hel--”

Arguably the biggest contributor to this periodical’s aura of awfulness and dread though has to be the unnerving artwork of Mark “Jock” Simpson. The Scottish penciller’s admittedly rough-looking illustrations, seemingly inked upon canvas, provide this comic’s darker moments with a sharp perturbing edge and whilst his sketches are somewhat amateurish-looking, there is no doubting that his panels depicting bloody mutilation don’t hold the attention. In fact the former “2000 A.D.” artist seems especially talented at depicting moments of physical dismemberment as well as making trees appear especially sinister and creepy even in the daytime.

The variant cover art of "WYTCHES" No. 1 by Francesco Francavilla