I love anthology series myself, having reviewed Goosebumps, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Love, Death and Robots, Hammer House of Horrors, Junji Ito's Maniac and many more besides on this very website. However, anthology comic books have had a trickier path to follow as the received wisdom has been that there isn’t a market for it anymore… or is there?
I heard of Hello Darkness, published by those fine fiends at Boom! who seem to specialise in the horror, sci-fi and mystery genres, from writer and artist Becky Cloonan on her Insta. I have followed her work since her Demo days, through By Chance or Providence to Gotham Academy and, more recently, the multi-Eisner award winning Somna. Generally, when she speaks I listen and she has yet to steer me wrong in comics. I met her about a decade ago in Orbital Comics in London and she signed my hardback of By Chance or Providence. I also have a moody limited number signed print too which I bought from Gosh! about 10 years ago. So when she mentioned that there was going to be a monthly horror anthology series with a rotating carousel of creatives my interest was piqued. With anthologies, variety is a key strength that keeps you interested as you get a diversity of voices, genre-bending and find hidden gems of stories and artists.
At the time of writing, just two comics have been released but I do have to say that they are just as wonderful as I imagined the to be.
#1 had a smorgasbord of talent including James Tynion IV, Garth Ennis and Becky Cloonan herself. We have 7 stories, 5 of which are short and complete and two that seem to be ongoing concerns. Contagious is the story of kids turning against adults in a horrific way whilst Stay in Your Lane is about a one-time pro bowler who goes full Falling Down crazy when he is passed over by professional bowling scouts. The two continuing stories are The War Part One about the current geo-political issues going on in the world and the fear that nuclear annihilation is close whilst Something is Killing the Children: A Monster Hunter Walks into a Bar Part One has a mysterious woman walk into a bar after a bus fails to show up. She hears about the strange case of children killing their parents and hunkers down at the bar for the night.
#2 has a few creatives I do not know but their works are still impressive. The Clown by Azam Raharjo is a Junji Ito like tale of a malevolent party clown who entrances children Pied Piper style. We also have Stargazers by Frederik Hornung, a tale of two adults meeting up through an online dating app only to reveal their true monstrous selves. Apocalypse in Slow Motion by Wes Craig is a biting satire of late state capitalism and the blood price that will have to be paid by the elites once things start to go wrong. Finally, The War Part Two continues the story of a geouo of friends deciding what to do after the Russia-Britain nuclear war.
Overall, I really enjoyed the comic as it was like a selection box of goodies. There was a little bit of everything but the highlights for me were the stories I have highlighted but Im sure another reviewer would have a different opinion. I cannot wait to see what else in store as the series continues and the talent pool gets ever wider.