Sex has consistently equated to doom in the horror template, striking a strong argument that the genre is, whether intentional or not, Christian propaganda. Sean EdgarĪs scribe Donny Cates clarified in his interview with Paste, he doesn’t “find the Antichrist compelling whatsoever,” but is completely devoted to exploring “the girl who gives birth to it, and the impact it has on her life.” True to his word, Babyteeth took a progressive twist on the template laid by Rosemary’s Baby, The Omen and House of the Devil. Aliens: Dead Orbit is a Venn diagram of awe, depression and the ghost of salvation, all splayed on 6.63” x 10.24” paper that feels as big as the universe at its most indifferent. Yes, protagonist Wascylewski matches wits with the Xenomorphs and facehuggers, but Stokoe’s art begs what’s the point in a celestial vacuum of hope, light years from any aid. Though this miniseries utilizes one of the most iconic horror franchises in film history, it builds on its foundation by imposing a sheer sense of scale and futility. Zoom in tightly enough, and one lone space engineer sits stranded in the wasteland. In Aliens: Dead Orbit, the cartoonist uses his talent to shape a cosmic graveyard of space junk, dwarfing in scope and mind-numbingly vast. As seen in Orc Stain and his Godzilla runs, a microscope is required to appreciate Stokoe’s images in their hyper-articulate, chiseled depth. Like fellow precision artists Geof Darrow and the late, great Bernie Wrightson, James Stokoe doesn’t stop drawing until nearly every millimeter of canvas is shaded, hatched and stylized. Watching lovable goofball Jughead transform from a burger-devouring lunkhead to a people-devouring lunkhead may be hard to stomach for longtime readers, but it does make for a delicious horror comic.
Each panel could be its own Giallo film poster from the ‘70s, the mood coloring echoing director Dario Argento’s hyper-stylized gel lighting. But this churning requiem for youth wouldn’t read so beautifully if not for artist Francesco Francavilla, channeling the dark side of Riverdale in reams of inky shadow. Though releases are few and far between, Afterlife hits a note of drama-heavy dread that’s not afraid to veer and twist among an electric ensemble, each character hiding a cemetery of skeletons in their closet. Archie Chief Creative Director and current Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa matured Archie, Veronica, Jughead, Betty and the other varsity-jacket icons with a teen rating and a buffet of human organs in this excellent series. In 2013, the Archie editorial crew took the definition of on-brand and fed it to a ravenous horde of flesh-eating shamblers.
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