Published by Image Comics
Writer: Skottie Young
Artist: Jorge Corona
My reason for grabbing this book at all however was not based on my love of stories about artists but instead for my love of paranormal stories. The fact that I'm an artist experiencing a large period of creative block illustration-wise, is a bit of a coincidence in terms of reading something I can related to. Of course, the fact that Skottie Young was writing something a bit darker and more adult was another reason for me grabbing this book, not to forget that fact that I love the art of Jorge Corona. So long-time fan of both these creators and of the collaborations they have been putting out together the past couple years.
Yes, I realize I'm a bit late to this book. The trade came out in March 2022 and serialized in the previous year. But hey, better late than pregnant, especially if you live the United States. This story follows artist Ro who moves into an old house in a rural location in order to find some inspiration for a new set of paintings. The house she moves into is well-known to be haunted. I'm going to try my best not to spoil the story but my motto for my reviews from now on happens to be : read at your own risk.
I feel like this story is more about the dark and trapped emotions associated with creative blocks rather than anything paranormal. Particularly as an artist, the struggle to come up with something new and different while also tapping into your deeper self, is a relatable struggle. Hmm I'm kinda reading other stories with this "writers block" sort of trope, that is also mixed with elements of the paranormal.. i.e. Brian Azarello & Maria Llovett's Faithless.
I think it's a fairly obvious that pairing creativity with the paranormal is a good match because the idea that artistic talent and/or creativity come from the gods or other paranormal beings, is not a new one. It has been a prevalent theme throughout history. The ancient Greeks for example, often talked about this in mythology. The Muses and various gods dedicated to bestowing innovation, creativity and artistic talent on random mortals have many stories of this nature. Further to this, the idea that artistic innovation itself comes from a dark part of your soul or psyche, the old trope of the suffering, brooding artist, for instance; the very idea that creative talent comes from a place of darkness and some dark force rather than something benevolent is also not a new concept but seen in puritan cultures.
This story feels like an exploration of creativity rather than a general haunting story. In fact, it isn't really a haunting story at all. The interactions Ro has with the being in her house is actually for much of the story, a very comfy one. She gains great friendship and inspiration from the spirit at first. It wouldn't be much of a story however if that were the end of it. Spoiler alert, the spirit isn't really all that nice. It's at this point that the story really becomes less paranormal again and feels more like the story of a battered woman. The red flags start to unfurl themselves before disaster falls. When this story takes a turn to domestic abuse, we see Skottie talking about how you can't force creativity and that when you do, progress is stalled. This happens multiple times.
There are a lot of other great themes running through this story, like the dangers of isolation when in a new relationship, the pressures of creating under a deadline, self confidence, imposter syndrome, abusive domestic relationships in general, and so many more things...
In conclusion, I really like this story. It carries so much more deeper themes and meaning than simply serving as another haunted house story. The ideas and themes is explore are all adult however so I wouldn't recommend this for anyone under 14 or 15 but that's really a parents judgement call there.
Watch my review of this comic in Youtube:
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