
Boom! Studios 2018
Written by Ben Acker & Ben Blacker
Illustrated by M.J. Erickson
Coloured by Brittany Peer
Lettered by Mike Fiorentino
The party inside the Haunted House has somehow descended into chaos. Encountering some spooks, the Doyles will have to perform an exorcism—once they fix themselves a drink, of course.
In my world Ben & Ben are Sadie and Frank just because I want it to be so. How else do we explain just how damn fun the two of them have when creating something like this? The dialogue and banter we see in these pages is nothing short of spectacular not to mention endearing as all get out even if they are complete teetotallers, Still with only two issues into the series I have a feeling this is going to be my go to for fun relaxing reading from here on out. I mean we just don’t get this kind of blatant tongue in cheek kind of humour any longer and it’s high time it made a comeback.
I really am enjoying the way that this is structured. The guys and the girls were separated last issue and while we pick up there I find it fascinating that our intrepid policeman Dave is holding hands with Frank and quite honestly showing a great more deal of fear than I would have anticipated. Meanwhile the women are faring slightly better. Oh and whomever came up with the whole saying the names of vegetables in a crazy Italian accent I applaud you and bow at your feet because I never laughed so hard in all my time reading comics.
The opening however was another thing I hadn’t expected. It really is rather upsetting and for reasons that are abundantly clear to whomever reads this. While it adds a little flavour to the future proceedings and could quite possibly relate to something else we see here it just goes to show how involved the guys are in making sure that there are tentacles of storylines that are still to be told. Among them is our reporter friend who is trying to save his job and find the story of a lifetime, which he’s somehow convinced is regards to the Doyles. I am rather intrigued by him and what his role in all this will end up being if it’s anything at all as he adds a certain something to the book and he might possibly stumble upon something that could change his life forever.
I am enamoured with MJ’s interiors here. She has a certain style that while lends itself beautifully to all-ages storytelling it also gives this story that much more of a throwback appeal. I mean radio shows and stage of the 1940’s and 50’s is where I see the Doyles coming from even though it’s in the now but MJ really does manage to capture something here as she blends the two ideas seamlessly. The utilisation of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows of a nice eye for storytelling. Honestly I think utilising backgrounds more would be nice to see overall however everything is quite nice. Brittany doess a nice job with the colours here as well.
This is so damn cute, fun and kind of irreverent and I gotta say that’s exactly why I have fallen head over heals for this book. This is smartly written with some excellent characterisation alongside some absolutely charming interior artwork. That these two paranormal paragons who are never far from a cocktail can star in and lead us around like they do should be enticing everybody!