Advance Review: Something Is Lurking In `The Closet’ #1

The monster lurking in the closet is a universal fear among children. Lying in bed in the dark – even with illumination coming from a nearby nightlight – children’s minds wander and concoct the scariest creatures that stop them from falling asleep.

Prolific writer James Tynion IV explores this phenomenon in his latest limited series, aptly named The Closet. Young child Jamie and his family are moving from an apartment to a new house in Portland. The stress of the move and mom and dad’s constant arguing are adding to Jamie’s stress – as is the literal monster in the closet. Jamie wants to sleep in his parents’ bed, but dad Thom tries, and spectacularly fails, to chase away any evil beings. That stresses Jamie out even more and leads to the creatures awaited arrival.

After half a book of ducking into a local watering hole to avoid the inevitable conflict with wife Maggie, Thom finally arrives home. At that point, Tynion wisely stops all dialogue and allows the story to focus on artist Gavin Fullerton’s depictions of Jamie and the monster. Fullerton expertly draws the reader into Jamie’s sleep-deprived brain. We see him about to drift off to sleep when the closet light turns back on and the creature appears.

The beast looks more like an alien than a terrifying monster, but a well-placed smile reveals its gruesome teeth. There’s no gore and really no action to depict – just a child’s terror.

That irrational fear is unfortunately something each of us can relate to. Whether the creature is real or a figment of Jamie’s imagination is unclear. And ultimately, it misses the point of the story, which deals with the effects that childhood trauma and how lasting an impact it can have on each of us.

The Closet #1 will be available for purchase on June 1, 2022.