Something Spooky: We Are Pledged In ‘Wytches’
by Tony Thornley
Sometimes, the scariest monsters in mythology are things we’re familiar with — vampires, werewolves, legends told and retold. Other times, the scariest monsters are the ones that we learn are nothing like the legends you know, but also have everything to do with everything we love. The latter is exactly what you’d expect from Wytches.
When the Rooks family, Charlie, Lucy and Sailor, move to rural New Hampshire to get a fresh start, they think they’ve found paradise away from the tragedy that drove them there. However, they’re about to discover something lurks in the woods. Something horrible, powerful … and hungry.
Scott Snyder and Jock started their partnership with the critically acclaimed Batman: Black Mirror which my good friend Scott Redmond talked about last week. However, the duo truly made their mark on the comics industry as a team with their Image Comics miniseries Wytches alongside color artist Matt Hollingsworth, and letterer Clem Robins. The horrifying first volume of the series was a huge hit, with a follow-up one shot a few years later, and a second volume promised eventually.
Simply put, I’ve read Wytches more than any other horror comic, and every time, Snyder and Jock manage to make my stomach turn. Snyder creates an intimate story about parenthood, grief, and loss. He weaves in deep themes about trauma and love. Then he twists it into something terrifying, and horrible.
The titular monsters are familiar and similar to the witches we know. Here though, they’re much more monstrous, with similarities that make it clear that they’re what inspired the witches of lore. There’s a mythology that Snyder hints towards that I want more of, and really hope we eventually get.
This book wouldn’t be what it is without Jock and Hollingsworth. Each page is a masterclass in storytelling. When the world is right, Jock’s storytelling is straightforward and direct, but when the horror starts, everything becomes twisted, distorted and surreal, but never to the disservice of the story.
And Hollingsworth is a quiet rockstar to go with it. He uses the colors in a disquieting way. It’s beautiful when the Rooks are moving forward with their lives. But as soon as the Wytches enter the story, the colors become harsh, and suddenly there’s blotches of ink and color over the art, giving a sense of wrongness and horror in the story.
Almost ten years later, and I still recommend this book every Halloween. It doesn’t just hold up. It gets scarier every time.
