Boom! Box/DC Comics 2016
Written by Chynna Clugston Flores
Penciled by Kelly & Nichole Matthews
Inked by Jenna Ayoub
Coloured by Whitney Cogar
Lettered by Warren Montgomery
I think i’m in love with Chynna right now because it’s like suddenly this went into Carrie meets Prom Night with some Poltergeist activity thrown in and made into an all-ages story. It shouldn’t work but it completely does and it’s amazing.
While the kids are only trying to enact their plan Louise sees only what her blind rage and jealousy let’s her see and that’s them plotting against her. So you’d think that when Louise tells the Guardians to escort the guests off the premises they’d be happy. You’d think that once free of the lodge they’d revert to their normal ages and that the kids would have won right? But no they need to complete Louise’s party if they are to end this nightmare once and for all.
So what comes next reminds me of when Scooby Doo met Josie and the Pussycats. Groups scatter and we get to see them all taking on the Guardians. In smaller groups we get to see more of their personalities emerge and learn a few things about the characters, mostly the adults, that we wouldn’t have known previously. When I say this is a lot of fun I really mean that because it’s cute, interesting, diverse on where, when and how we see them all fighting back to stay in a place they all want to the heck out of. Watching them run around the lodge explore different rooms, find different ways to fight the Guardians it’s right up there with some of the best all-ages cartoon stories out there.
Right away I noticed the artwork looked different. It’s close to what we’ve been seeing with some subtle yet pronounced differences. The use of page layouts through the angles, perspective and the backgrounds is nicely done here. I love the imagination and creativity on display as well. There’s the right sense of all-ages scariness to the proceedings without going over the edge that’s a great accomplishment.
I’m such a huge fan of this crossover and have been since day one. Chynna has managed to create a story, premise and reason why the two franchises would not only meet but team up. By proving she’s an all around fan of both through the dialogue and characterisation took things to the next level by adding her own twists to the proceedings that have managed to take us to a place that everyone can enjoy.
This is how you make horror fans out of the youngest generations while proving to the older ones that they can still be taken by surprise. This is romp of fun that’s been an absolute pleasure and joy to experience and I cannot wait to see how it’s going to end!