New To You Comics #132: Taking The ‘Phantom Road’ Less Traveled

Everyone has different tastes in comics. Here at New To You Comics, we explore that as Tony and Tom dive into comics that, well, it’s right there in the column title. This week, we continue all-horror October with a very recent book that takes the horror on the road.

Tony has been itching to get his hands on the recently released first volume of Phantom Road from Jeff Lemire and Gabriel H. Walta. So as a treat for you this Halloween, we’re going to discuss this spooky book.

Dom is a long haul trucker, looking forward to the days between trips. But when an accident leads to an encounter with a mysterious artifact and a enigmatic young woman, Dom has to hit the freeway to take the object to its intended destination. The journey is going to drive Dom and his new companion Birdie directly into a supernatural conspiracy deeper than they could ever imagine.

Tom Smithyman: OK Tony, I know you’ve been waiting for this one all month. Let me start by saying that Lemire is one of my absolute favorite writers in comics. I don’t love everything that he does, but I will almost certainly read everything from him. I’m currently reviewing Phantom Road as well and his other series Blood Orchard: Tenement, Fireflies and Black Hammer: The End. I’m loving the former, but the latter feels a bit tired to me.

And I’ll be honest, Phantom Road started off really slow for me. Like stuck in neutral slow. The script was also confusing, at least at the beginning, though I didn’t consider that to be a bad thing. Lemire is hoping to tell a much longer story here. That’s something I didn’t realize at first. I thought this was a limited run instead of the ongoing series he’s planning. Still, the first two issues (or chapters of this combined volume) didn’t do much for me.

Road starts with truck driver Dom, who picks up surprise passenger Birdie after coming across an automobile accident. The pair are suddenly transported to a parallel world full of featureless creatures that seem to want to kill them. It’s OK, but not all that original or compelling.

Tony, did I get that wrong? What did you think of the opening?

Tony Thornley: Hey Tom! I actually wrote up the first issue of the series at ComicsXF, and then fell off the series (I might have read the third issue, but not any of the rest of the arc). My dad and grandpa were both truckers (thankfully neither were like the drivers depicted here). So I was impressed with how well Lemire and Walta captured that in the first issue. This is just as much about the horror of the open road and the liminal spaces there as it is whatever is happening to Dom and Birdie for me. The pacing was very slow for the first two issues though, I absolutely agree. Knowing that it’s an ongoing definitely helps with that feeling though.

Smithyman: For me, the story turned around with the introduction of FBI agent Theresa Weaver, who is investigating one of the dead creatures left on the road. While it has no features, it seems strangely familiar to the agent. That pivot turned around the entire series for me. By splitting the story between the other world and the real one, everything seemed to click story-wise?

What did you think?

Thornley: Weaver’s introduction is totally where you see the potential for the story to be ongoing (or at least four or five volumes I’d guess). There’s a darker world here, there’s a conspiracy, and Dom, Birdie and Weaver have all been thrust into the middle of it.

Smithyman: What I found interesting was that Walta’s art even seemed more interesting after that middle chapter. Instead of focusing on a semi driving across a pretty boring desert being chased by featureless creatures, Walta drew real people – including a naked one. It was as if writer and illustrator were functioning seamlessly to tell a strong story.

Thornley: Yeah, the art is really the draw for the earlier bits until the plot really kicked in. Walta sets mood and atmosphere. He captures the hypnotic repetition of the road in a way that feels accurate but not boring. His designs for the monsters were eerie, but completely unique from anything else in comics right now. He’s also great at creating layouts that tell the story. More than once he was able to convey what was happening without a bit of the script.

I did think the page of full frontal nudity was a bit unnecessary, but it is what it is.

Smithyman: Not to belabor the pivot, but the middle chapters were where I first even noticed Jordie Bellaire’s colors. Chapter 3 is set in the real world and is full of colors, unlike the drab neutral tones in the alt world. There aren’t many bright colors in the book, but when they appear, the pop that much more.

Thornley: Oh definitely. I think Bellaire is so good because she tailors how she colors to the story. She uses a lot more color in the real world, but even the parallel world they find themselves in has splashes of color that as much about emphasis and drawing the eye as it is getting a scene. It’s really great.

Smithyman: For my money, this is one of the best teams in comics. (Lemire and his frequent collaborator Andrea Sorrentino may be the absolute tops.) That’s what made the first two chapters so underwhelming for me. As I said in my review at the time, they weren’t bad. They were just OK. And I expect a lot more out of this creative team. That may be more my problem than a real creative one. In any case, though, I’m glad I stuck it out and kept reading.

I’ll be curious to see where Dom, Birdie, and Weaver end up on their journeys. It will also be interesting to see how long it takes them to meet up – and where that initial meeting will take place.

Tony, final thoughts?

Thornley: I liked this from the jump but I can where you struggled. Once it really kicked in though, it’s on another level. I really can’t wait for more in this series, see where it ends up.

Smithyman: You’re ending spooky season with a bang, right? You have another Halloween special planned with Scott Redmond, right?

Thornley: We actually bumped this one up because Anton had a work issue pop up, so we’re going to cover Koshchei In Hell for Halloween!