(I originally read these comics in mid November 2016)
'Wytches' is only my second taste of the work of Scott Snyder (for the first, see here) and he could have made a worse impression. Having said that, I didn't find it an entirely satisfying experience.
It follows a children's book illustrator, his disabled wife and their thirteen year-old daughter Sailor as they move to a new town, having left scandal and trailing secrets behind them. The bullied adolescent was suspected of killing her tormentor when she disappeared in the woods, never to be found. Her new schoolmates approach this rumour with a mixture of fear and awe.
It would spoil the story to say too much. Like 'The Wicker Man', this is a tale that relies on the measured disclosure of ominous goings-on to evoke growing dread. However, it comes as no surprise when the family's new hometown is proven to be a hotbed of supernatural shenanigans and that there are revealed to be scarier things than raccoons lurking in the woods.
The plot is engaging, even if the non-linear storytelling threatened to lose me once or twice, the dialogue is sharp and the central characters of Charlie and Sailor are likeable. My main issue was with the art, or specifically the dark and murky colouring that employs a heavily 'paint-spattered' effect throughout. Because of this I missed a few story details and was turning back the pages in confusion. I feel a more conventional palette would have eased immersion into the story and better allowed Jock's line work to shine.
'Wytches' feels like a movie pitch in comics form, so it's no surprise to learn there's a big screen adaptation on the way.
Wytches (2014) # 1-6 are collected in:
Softcover:
