On a conceptual and creative team level, Coady and the Creepies #1 could be an excellent comic. It’s about three alliteratively named sisters Criss, Corey, and Coady, who are in a punk band and got into a big accident. Their manager died, and everyone was badly hurt except Coady. However, after a year of recovery, they’re back on tour in Santa Fe, New Mexico where they’re not just dealing with the mansplaining bro-punk band the Boneheads, but also with ghosts and the supernatural. Writer Liz Prince has done some excellent work on her zine-inspired autobio comics like, but her quirky writing style gets weighed down by a flurry of exposition and sped up worldbuilding. The first half of Coady and the Creepies is a fun, yet dark-tinged “behind the music”/road trip while the second half is information overload with a ghostly chase scene.

I did not fall in love with Amanda Kirk‘s art in Coady and the Creepies #1. It has a nice attitude to it, but Prince and Kirk rely too heavily on talking heads and panel grids for most of the issue instead of more dynamic sequences like Corey beats up a zombie looking audience member with her guitar and then plays a killer riff. Also, the figures and backgrounds come off as flat, which took me out of the both the concert scenes and parts where the band was sitting around, talking, or smooching cute venue managers. Hannah Fisher’s colors pep things up considerably, such as an L.A. Lakers worthy combo of purple and yellow when a character from Criss’ favorite ghost story book starts chasing Corey and Luna, the earlier mentioned manager. She breathes new life into the stiff poses Kirk’s faces are pretty cute though like when Corey and Luna are freaking out about La Llorona, or Coady is doing her snarky loner thing.

Liz Prince’s writing and characterizaion really runs the gamut in Coady and Creepies #1. For every great scene, like the Creepies’ manager, Jose, freaking out about how awesome chimichangas are, or Coady telling off the Boneheads with an acid tongued mix of feminism and snark , there’s a wall of text about incarnation or some mythical fetch quest to get special pins at punk rock venues across the U.S. Coady and the Creepies has some terrific moments, but it never gels at a holistic level. I feel like I know who Coady and Corey are as characters at the end of the comic, but Criss just fills out the plot by delivering foreshadowing about the upcoming supernatural threat and being a part of the band. And a potentially major character introduced at the end of the issue only exists to explain the plot and doesn’t even have platonic chemistry with Coady or any of the other characters.

If you’ve read any of my past reviews, I am all in for comic books about cool bands, queer romances, and a bit of urban fantasy. Unfortunately, Coady and the Creepies #1 fails to execute its super rad premise, especially in the artwork department and is a rare misfire for the BOOM! Box imprint.

Story: Liz Prince Art: Amanda Kirk Colors: Hannah Fisher
Story: 6.0 Art: 5.0 Overall: 5.5  Recommendation: Pass

BOOM! Studios provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review