OCTOBER - 31 Days Of Horror: BABYTEETH, VOLUME ONE: BORN

BABYTEETH, Volume One: Born by Donny Cates, writer and Garry Brown, artist. (AfterShock Comics, December 2017) Trade paperback, 120 pages. ISBN #1935002775 / 9781935002772 

Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .

Collecting all five issues of the first story arc from the hit AfterShock series, BABYTEETH!

Sadie Ritter is sixteen years old, nine months pregnant, and scared out of her sweet nerdy mind. Having a baby that young is tough, but with the support of her loving family behind her, everything should be okay. OH YEAH, and also her baby is the antichrist and it's going to break open the barriers between the earthly and demonic planes and unleash eternal suffering to all of humankind. Other than that, though...should be fine.

From Donny Cates, writer of Buzzkill, Paybacks, Rednecks and the break-out hit God Country, comes a pulse-pounding new series with art from THE REVISIONIST’s Garry Brown!  

My Five-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . .

     Multiple readings of BABYTEETH pay dividends. True appreciation for the skills of the creative team that went into crafting this comes with a second, third and slower reading. 

     BABYTEETH is one of my favorite horror offerings from AfterShock comics, ranking a close second to A WALK THROUGH HELL on my top list - - and for completely different reasons. 

     There are two feats that writer Donny Cates completes especially well that elevate this above the standard horror graphic novel and sets it apart: 

1. His adept handing of the family dynamic. Cates made a Venom fan out of me by the way he handled the relationship between the main character and his young son. He betters that performance here. I love young and devoted mother Sadie Ritter (16 years old), her single parent dad, and her tough, badass older sister Heather. Even though her newborn son Clark may be the antichrist I worry about his safety and welfare as much as the family does. Too many horror writers seem to forget that creating empathy helps to raise the terror/anxiety/dread bar and keep readers engaged. Also, all of the secondary characters have qualities that define them and make them memorable. (The Prairie Wolf, an 18-year old female assassin; The Coyote, her grizzled veteran hitman of a father; and Dancy Cherrywood the warlock with an escape plan).                                                 
2. Cates injects a little humor at just the right places and the appropriate times in the story to balance that fine line between light and darkness. Without some fun moments or amusing dialogue this would be a very dark story and just not as interesting. Trust me, this is a real page-turner. 

     In addition, the pacing is just right. Cates wisely bookends several chapters with narration by Sadie, at some future point in the story where she is separated from baby and family. She records a video on her phone to share with her son. Her narration provides story background for both baby and readers (us) as well as foreshadows some upcoming events. 

     The art by Garry Brown is perfect for the story, also treading that fine line between humor and horror. Some scenes are truly dark and terrifying. Brown also has a knack for getting maximum impact from his illustrations of facial expressions and body language. He also knows when it's the right time to inject a bit of lighthearted fun into the story. For example, The Prairie Wolf is in a stand-off with family members and pauses to think, using her gun to scratch her head.

     The trade paperback comes with an enlightening look at the creative process from Cate's typewritten page outlines to Brown's rough sketches, then inks, coloring and letter. There's also an extensive cover gallery featuring all the marvelous variant covers that were produced for Issues #1 and #2. This is great stuff, and highly recommended.