Review: The Me You Love in The Dark #1 (of 5)

Thanks, in part, to American Horror Story, the old haunted house trope has become more popular. In the hands of the ever quirky writer / artist Skottie Young whose writing here matches his unique sense of artistic style.

Ro Meadows is a painter who is going through a bit of a funk. To cure her painting “blues”, or any other color for that matter, she rents a gorgeously gothic, yet supposedly, haunted house. Left to her own devices, Ro does what most creative types do for a while (myself included); procrastinate. When the blank canvas gets too much, out comes the wine, the music and the chatting to the ghost, who makes its presence known. But is it companionship, love or terror that awaits Ro?

Skottie Young is a creator who runs on both sides of the creative road. as a writer and artist. Here, it is his writing that comes to the fore. Young takes the classic trope, with influences from the aforementioned American Horror Story as well as shades of Casper the Friendly Ghost with a soupçon of Angel via Cordy’s house thrown in for good measure. There is a charm to the setup; Ro is a likeable character, the struggling creative is a common thread, but is handled well. The dialogue is cutesy without going over the top. Ro is a character who is dealing with pressures of expectation from a variety of sources, including herself. As such, it seems perfectly normal to try an interact with something that has no expectations or even no body!

The art for the book is provided by Jorge Corona who has worked on a plethora of titles from DC Comics, Image Comics and BOOM! Studios. Looking through the book, I enjoyed the cartoon, cute style. In some ways, it reminds me of J. Briscoe Allison’s art seen in Sweet Lullaby from Darby Pop Publishing, though there does seem to be some Young influences in play around the arms and elbow. The big eye glasses facial style helps sell the innocence of Ro’s situation. Equally impressive are the backgrounds of the house; itself a character that sets the tone of the book. Equally impressive are the colors from Jean-Francois Beaulieu who delivers a kind of stained painted look that gives the book a rich and deep feel. Letterer Nate Piekos of Blambot supplies an odd style that at first glance, I wasn’t too fond of. Maybe I have been brought up on too much comic sans styles. Still the odd lettering style does in fact add to the nuance of the book.

Regular readers will know that I am not a big fan of horror books. That said, there is no escaping the excellent storytelling on show in this book. I am intrigued with Ro’s situation and I am curious as to how the almost infatuation from Ro and her ghost will play out.

Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 5 Stars

Written by; Skottie Young
Art by; Jorge Corona
Colors by; Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Letters by; Nate Piekos of Blambot
Published by; Image Comics

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network