Adorable & Child-Friendly Halloween Adventures In Backstagers Halloween Intermission 2018
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Three years ago, the St. Genesius Prep School was getting ready for Halloween. Many of the Backstage crew were getting ready for a horror movie marathon, but Tim and Jamie stayed behind to spend the night in the auditorium. What they saw has haunted them ever since. Now, Tim and Jamie are readying for another Halloween in the auditorium to hold off whatever entity they encountered, but Sasha is missing. The rest of the crew search for him elsewhere while Tim and Jamie ready for Halloween.
In the back-up stories, the Backstagers deal with malfunctioning stage equipment, lighting, and tool rats.
The Backstagers Halloween Intermission 2018 is my first encounter with the Backstagers corner of Boom! Studios. Frankly, I didn’t even know that it is a part of their kid-friendly Boom! Box imprint until I saw the cover.
That said, Boom! Studios is good at printing all-ages comics that are still readable for adult audiences, and the Backstagers Halloween Intermission 2018 special is no different.
The cast of Backstagers are strange, chatty, and precocious teenagers, and each is gifted with a unique personality to charm and delight the reader. Sasha is especially endearing.
The stories are based around being a stage crew for the school’s play productions, and many of the jokes seem aimed for people familiar with that activity.
Rian Sygh returns to contribute the art to the main story, and Savanna Ganucheau, Shan Murphy, and Abby Howard illustrate the three backstories, with Walter Baiamonte contributing the colors to the main and final tales. Each story has its own distinctly cute visual style with strong and contrasting color work to give it tons of personality.
Backstagers Halloween Intermission 2018 is a delightful and charming read fit for all ages. The characters are lovable, the stories are cute and fun, and the artwork is strong throughout. The cover price is a little steep, but, if you’re willing to pay it, this comic will most certainly be worth your while.
Backstagers Halloween Intermission 2018 comes to us courtesy of writers James Tynion IV and Sam Johns, artists Ryan Sygh, Savanna Ganucheau, Shan Murphy, and Abby Howard, color artists Walter Baiamonte, Savanna Ganucheau, and Shan Murphy, letterers Jim Campbell and Abby Howard, cover artist Ryan Sygh, and variant cover artist Veronica Fish.