WRITER: CARMEN MARIA MACHADO | ARTIST: DANI STRIPS | PUBLISHER: DC BLACK LABEL | FORMAT: SINGLE ISSUE | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Award-winning body-horror author Carmen Maria Machado makes her comics debut with a well-paced coming-of-age series that’s off to a fantastic start. Headed by popular writer Joe Hill, DC’s new pop-up horror line ‘Hill House Comics’ launched earlier this year after the publisher revealed they were shutting down their classic imprint Vertigo, home to such iconic characters as Swamp Thing and The Sandman. From what we know so far, Hill House will consist of five limited-run series, two of which will be authored by Hill. Machado’s The Low, Low, Woods will have a six-issue run and if the first volume is any indication it’s shaping up to be a thrilling, thought-provoking read.
TLLW marks a refreshing change of format for the celebrated horror author; Machado’s 2017 short story anthology Her Body and Other Parties won her the Shirley Jackson Award, In the Dream House, her follow-up memoir released earlier this year, has already been long-listed for the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. She’s known for her horror-influenced prose, and this transition from novels to comics is really well-done. The issue kicks right into gear, the author deftly weaving historical exposition into the first instalment while making the reader feel as disoriented as her main characters: two best friends trying to navigate their social and romantic lives in a slowly-dying and literally-burning Pennsylvania mining town. When El and Olivia wake up in a movie theatre with no recollection of what’s transpired over the past several hours, each of them begins processing their sense of confusion in their own unique way.
In TLLW Machado brings her poetic style to a visually striking debut. The accompanying artwork from Dani Strips, aka DaNi (Black Beth), is an excellent pairing for the world she’s building. Machado crafts a slow-burn until the horrifying cliffhanger, but every word feels important, and not a single panel feels like filler. It will be very exciting to see what direction this haunting new series is going to take in later volumes.
