Review by C.J. Bunce
Writer Rick Remender is bringing a new supernatural mystery to comic shops this week. The Seasons is a new comic book series from Image Comics’ Giant Generator imprint, and it’s full of non-stop action. Its Tintin-inspired artwork by Paul Azeceta may not immediately conjure the strange, compelling, and mysterious village in the 1960s television series The Prisoner, and yet what you see is not what it appears to be. A disconcerting vibe is infused with Hayao Miyazaki’s pretty world in Spirited Away, which is of course hiding a much darker world only moments away.
The story begins in 1924 with a city in Egypt vanishing overnight, as reported by a young woman named Autumn Seasons. Her youngest sister Spring is a British postal carrier, and the first chapter follows her haphazard sprint to reclaim a letter from Autumn. Why can’t she just grab the letter? What forces are keeping it away? Check out a preview of the double-length first issue of The Seasons below–unless you have a fear of clowns.
The story is billed as horror, but don’t let that keep you away. This is more psychological stuff of the PG-13 variety, closer to The Black Phone and, again, The Prisoner, if you see that as horror, as for genre. Maybe something of Final Destination? Clown villains in this niche often immediately get cited to Stephen King in the 1980s, and yet the motif goes back to Charles Dickens and even earlier (I’ve always liked Michael McKean’s turn in the Star Trek Voyager episode “The Thaw”). From the first issue, it seems like this story is taking its own path, but if you get a claustrophobic feeling when a loud parade of not quite traditional appearing clowns are breathing down your neck, this story may be–or not be–for you.
Like The Prisoner guests, the sisters at the heart of this tale are numbered in a way–each after a season by some clever parents who have been missing for a decade. The search for what happened to them is the mystery readers will find themselves immersed in. Like the opening minutes of Hitchcock’s The Birds, you can feel something is coming but absent the marketing you couldn’t predict in what form. It’s coming of age stuff, and I love that more creators are following Blumhouse’s model of late, steering clear of the gore and R-rated stuff, opting for something less violent, blatant, or explicit.
Azeceta’s art style is silly and fun, a sneaky juxtaposition to the horror that is being saved for later. Matheus Lopes provides the coloring (bright and vibrant following Spring’s journey, muted when nefarious things are afoot). Rus Wooton provides some much-needed varying styles of lettering that serve the story and historical bits well.
The series even has a slick book trailer, which provides a good idea of what readers can expect:
Look for four cover options for the first issue, by Azaceta, Jordi Lafebre, Kent Williams, and Wes Craig. Here is a look inside:
Spring reminds me of Nicola Coughlan’s nonstop-dialogue characters of Derry Girls, Bridgerton, and now Doctor Who fame.
I loved this first issue. Add The Seasons to your pull list now at Elite Comics or your local shop. It’s slated to be in stores this Wednesday, January 8, 2025.
