It all starts with a cold collection of words set to a black background, reminiscent of last year’s eerie thriller Gravity. Then, storytellers Scott Snyder and Jock thrust the reader right into an ugly tip of the iceberg from the past to set the atmosphere for the present, taking place in the real life present of 2014. Both of these decisions are sound, giving the story a striking aura of grandiosity and substantiality. Intimately tapping into anxiety, the hardship of parenting, and plain ol’ fear, Wytches #1 succeeds tremendously, looking stunning all the while.

The first arc of Wytches focuses on the Rooks family, complete with a loving father passionate about his cartooning career, a disabled, supporting wife, and an anxiety-ridden, troubled teenage daughter. Strong fathers are always nice to see in fiction, Charles representing a solid example. The conversations he has with his daughter Sailor in an attempt to assuage her worrisome thoughts, along with his own worrying over her well-being, feels genuinely sweet. Snyder did a remarkable job of quickly making these new characters worthy of caring about.

The content is already disturbing in this first issue, making this comic more than worthy of its M rating. A glimpse into the bullying Sailor had to deal with is downright terrifying, proving itself as something the faint of heart will have a difficult time reading. As somebody who has lived with anxiety issues his whole life, the way Sailor’s brain tortures her is wholly, palpably realistic. I’m not a father, but the suffering Charles deals with in trying to do what is best for his daughter comes off as authentic too. Snyder has done a dastardly job of ruthlessly exploiting these characters, putting them in a very vulnerable position for these Wytches to give them Hell.

Stringing all of the great story beats together are the amazing pencils from Jock, aided tremendously by the coloring of Matt Hollandsworth. Jock’s pointy, angular, and twisted style fits this book perfectly, bringing some really uncomfortable environments, creatures and people to the table. What’s especially great is that his pencils don’t fall flat whenever the calmer, intimate dialogue takes place. His style actually creates a feeling of foreboding, on top of totally functional and charming expression. Hollandsworth’s coloring, filled with oddly colored and placed splotches and lines, makes everything all the more tense, adding a particularly impressive and subtle effect to the calmer moments. The book looks really unique and attention-grabbing, offering some pretty stellar splashes, used sparingly.

I was shocked when I hit the last page because the fact that the comic was over was such a surprise. The comic goes by quickly because it’s so good and because it’s so tense. Wytches begs to be read.

Story: Scott Snyder Art: Jock
Story: 9.25 Art: 9.00 Overall: 9.25 Recommendation: Buy

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Image Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review