Review: Scooper’s Found A New Friend In ‘Scarenthood’ #2
by Brendan M. Allen
‘Cormac and his daughter Scooper haven’t hung out much lately—he’s been trying to learn more about the thing he disturbed underneath the village hall, why it’s dogging him, and whether it’s connected to the disappearance of a child four decades earlier: and while her dad’s been so busy and her mum is… not at home… Scooper has found a new friend to take special care of her. Will a father/daughter stroll through the woods bring them closer together, or tear them apart? Nick Roche and Chris O’Halloran are on babysitting duties…’
In Scarenthood #2, Cormac is in a spot. The events of the first chapter are really doing his head in, and of the parents’ group, he’s only really got the one other parent that halfway believes his story. That would be the conspiracy theorist Flynno. Everyone else pretty much thinks he’s nuts, but he’s nice enough, so he’s still in the group.
Cormac’s obsession is taking its toll. If he doesn’t get out in front of this thing soon, it’ll consume him.
Nick Roche really dials up the alienation and desperation in this chapter. Of all the people in the world, the only one Cormac really still has in his corner is Scooper, and he’s in danger of losing the special bond he’s got with his little girl. The other parents are playing along for the moment, but that mostly stems from their own boredom, not from any loyalty or belief in Cormac’s version of events.
This is the best kind of build. Something is obviously up with the business that happened under the stage last chapter, but most of the stuff in this one, when viewed from anyone’s perspective other than Cormac’s, is explainable. Until that one thing. Blink and you’ll miss it. So good.
We’re only in the second chapter, but it’s a four piece mini, so it’s also the antepenultimate. I love how Scarenthood is pacing. Roche shows an amazing level of restraint, with an understated tension and a steadily growing sense of dread. The big reveal (in the very last panel of the very last page) is one of the creepiest things I’ve seen in comics and hints at a big, scary pop in the next installment.
Scarenthood #2, IDW Publishing, 09 December 2020. Story and art by Nick Roche, color by Chris O’Halloran, letters by Shawn Lee.
Summary
Cormac is trying to learn more about the thing he disturbed underneath the village hall, why it’s dogging him, and whether it’s connected to the disappearance of a child four decades earlier: and while her dad’s been so busy and her mum is… not at home… Scooper has found a new friend to take special care of her.
