Writer: Si Spurrier / Penciller: Chris Wildgoose / Colour Artist: André May / Letterer: Jim Campbell / Boom! Studios
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12th February 2020
The Pitch: Three teenagers, each an outcast in their own way, stumble upon an unearthly entity as it's born.
It was a rough week this week since I picked up 14 books and eight of those were #1's (although one was a reprint). It makes it tougher for the crush of the week. Sure, they can't all be good. But if you know your tastes and know what you gravitate towards, chances are you're halfway to picking something you like anyway. First World problems, mate. This book was one I picked up on a whim and it surprised me, but it shouldn't have. Spurrier is an excellent writer, whose written solid title after solid title and I've been in love with Wildgoose's work since I first saw Porcelain a few years back.
ANYTIME KIDS GO WALKING IN THE WOODS, THEY’RE GOING TO FIND THE HOUSE MADE OF CANDY OR THE BIG BAD WOLF
Right away, this had me hooked. The connecting device of having the shittiest kid in school harassing his classmates one by one is a nice conceit and immediately sets him up on the discreet channel of the story, keeping him peppered throughout. Also a winner was the trifecta of naming the kids in the story's central focus Samantha, Samuel and Samir – giving the issue its title: Three kids named Sam go walking in the woods. Of course, any time kids go walking in the woods, they're going to encounter the house made of candy, the big bad wolf or the alien artefact, hanging from a tree like a hornet's nest.
When the kids disturb this particular nest, they become connected psychically. It's an interesting conceit since the kids are loners – alienated – and the book's earliest move is to make the three Sams anti-that. They're connected now, unable to break that link. Their minds become like a permanently visible Facebook wall, itself a fascinating concept in our social media-obsessed little world. The book's structural mechanics are really pleasing as we follow the Sams through their day. The comic plays with the ideas of identity, using that gender non-specific, truncated name. After all, it's back in school that some of us realise that we have three names – the names our parents give us, the names our friends give us and the name we give ourselves, even if like we treat it like magic and never tell anyone else what that name is. The Sams are robbed of that, in each other's heads. Again, giving us something to think about as we rob ourselves of privacy.
To tell you anything else about the book's plot would rob you of the fun of seeing what happens next, so I'm not going to. But I can talk about the book’s other qualities. Spurrier's writing slips interesting ideas and notions into an entertaining plotline. Wildgoose's art is textured and detailed, leaning into the cartoonish aspects of the story without losing sight of the serious elements. May's colours show the full range of his palette, creating luminosity and light to Wildgoose's skilled pencils. The real stand-out for me was letterer Jim Campbell. He's literally pulling something out of his hat every third page. I always feel like letterers are the unsung heroes of comics, but this one needs to sing from the rooftops. A great book, made by a great team proving that good entertaining art is rarely made in isolation. Or should that be 'alienation'?
Buy Boom comics here and support The Comic Crush.