Advance Review — ‘Far Down Below’ #1 Embraces Nostalgia Of The 1980s
by Tom Smithyman
Overview
Take 1980s’ nostalgia and blend it with the story of a haunted house and you may have a hit on your hand. It’s still early in this limited series’ run, but this strong start should keep readers coming back for more.
Overall
8.5/10Nostalgia for the 1980s has never been hotter. From popular music to movies to theater, audiences are embracing the throwbacks to the Ronald Reagan years. Comic books are certainly not immune, with some of the best-selling titles from the past year including Transformers, Thundercats, and G.I. Joe.
So it’s no surprise we have a new entry into the milieu in Far Down Below. This limited series relishes the era, telling the story largely through the eyes of some young teenagers. In fact, the Chris Condon script for the premiere issue feels lovingly inspired by E.T. or The Goonies. (For those of you too young to understand the references, see Stranger Things.)
The story follows Brian Atkins and his friend Jeff, who are interrupted during their Star Wars dominoes playdate (we didn’t call them playdates back then) to go explore a haunted house in their eastern Pennsylvania town. The house is a bit of a family mystery, as is what happened to one of Brian’s relatives, an underground explorer from the 1860s.
Condon is showing off the breadth of his writing abilities, straying far from his other works including That Texas Blood and Ultimate Wolverine. Here, he feels like he’s embracing his inner child to tell a story that his pubescent self would want to read. While it may not be anything new – at least yet – it’s entertaining enough.
Artist Gege Schall shows her own range by starting out in a dark underground cave in the 1860s and then transporting readers to the obnoxiously bright 1980s. While most of Schall’s work is deceptively simple, it can pack a punch when she is trying to startle readers. The final splash page is legitimately terrifying simply in her use of shadows.
With a lot more story left to tell, it will be interesting to see how the creative team pivots to tell a compelling haunted house story – one that we haven’t seen in the ’80s.
Far Down Below #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, March 26th, 2025 from Mad Cave.
