
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Gavin Fullerton
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
what’s it about?
A tale of existential familial horror by James Tynion IV and Gavin Fullerton. Thom is moving cross-country with his family and dragging the past along with them. His son, Jamie, is seeing monsters in the bedroom closet and will not let them go.



The Good
I was immediately drawn to this book at my local comic shop by three factors. The first, and most powerful, was seeing James Tynion IV’s name on the cover. I cannot sing the praises of this man and his work enough, whether it’s for DC, Image or Boom. The second factor was the Image imprint. Image is a place where creators are free to present their creations to the world without limitations. At Image we see the work as the artists and writers intended without publisher interference. Seeing James Tynion’s name on an Image book was an easy sell. The third factor in all of this was the genre. I love horror and couldn’t wait to see what terror lied within the pages of The Closet.
The story itself is engaging and does an excellent job establishing the relationship between Thom, Maggie and Jamie. Fullerton’s art is as unconventional as the story itself. Fullerton explores the page through the issue of negative space creating a sense of pure dread as the final pages roll out.






The Bad
Horror is all about creating the perfect atmosphere. Telling a scary story first thing in the morning isn’t the right time. You also need to know how to set up the story, especially its characters and setting. The first few pages of Thom sitting at the bar let us know what kind of man, father and husband he was but, for me, it went on too long. The last few pages were undoubtedly the best part of the issue and I wish I got more of the horror and less of the setup in the first arc of the issue. Considering this is a three issue series I’m going to hang around to see how this story plays out. Don’t get me wrong, it was interesting, it just took too long to get us where we needed to be. The Closest will definitely read better when all three issues are collected.


