THE AUTUMNAL review - A master-class in horror

(Reviewed by Melody Werner)

The Autumnal is a 2020-2021 horror comic by Daniel Kraus, Chris Shehan, Jason Wordie, and Jim Campbell. Released through Vault's terror-focused Nightfall imprint, its 8 issue run was met with critical acclaim. Vault always has my attention, being that they have reliably published some of the finest self-contained, artful comics since their inception (their whole thing is "elevated sci-fi/fantasy"--which was perfected in These Savage Shores), but The Autumnal had me in, in a big way. Naturally, its buzz didn't hurt, but I have been enthusiastic for Shehan's work for a fair bit, fall is my favorite season by far, and--while I don't really go for horror cinema or video games--I really do fuck with horror comics. And I am proud to report that The Autumnal had my heart pounding a mile a minute from start to finish.

Shehan and Wordie work off each other excellently, selling the lush small town hellscape wonderfully. This is a comic that knows how pretty leaves falling are, but also knows that they are fertile ground for suspense and chills. And while The Autumnal's world is far more mundane than that of, say, Sera and the Royal Stars, it is no less absorbing, as it reeks of atmosphere and dread. The imagery is incredibly inventive in how it unsettles you as a reader, but you also have plenty of fun in the mix too that adds to the story's crushing weight. This is what we in the biz call "doing a lot with a little". Also worth praising are the ways the panels are played around with--especially in the final issue, which cleverly integrates its arboreal aesthetic into the panel structure for a nice flair. Wordie's coloring deserves a lot of credit for being so bold, and for helping the visuals leap off the page, as the botched idiom goes. And then you have Campbell, who is a letterer you have probably seen in the credits of some of your favorite alternative comic releases, if you're into those much. As per usual, he delivers some tight lettering that works with what the rest of the team's doing on the book. I will say that there's a minor typo in one of the middle issues ("chose" is wrongly used instead of "choose"), but it's impossible to guess how that slipped in (don't blame letterers for any and all typos in comics, folks--their job isn't copywriting), and that was the only one I spotted.

I have to say, the story of The Autumnal is terribly riveting. It helps that there are a number of excellent characters, and that you know that because it's a horror comic, at least some of them will croak by the end. That's true, but it's always a gut-punch when one of them gets the axe, cuz they aren't just your slasher movie kill fodder or anything, these feel like good people who meet unspeakably gruesome ends. But the real killer of The Autumnal is its hair-raising tension and pacing. Each issue builds on top of the last until the final, damn near suffocating moments. As you learn more about this sick little paradise, you can get so damn invested in the twists and turns of this instant classic.

The Autumnal goes to some places that you wouldn't dream of in your worst nightmare, and is currently my favorite comic I've read in this awful, awful year. It is so compelling, bone-chilling, and exciting. Needless to say, I heartily recommend it. The Autumnal gets a 10/10.

Masterpiece

Summary:

At last, the greatest season receives its own comic, and they're in the same ballpark of goodness.