Spooktober: Wytches vol 1

Wytches vol 1
Written by Scott Snyder
Drawn by Jock
Published by Image Comics
Released 2014

You know when you wait on something, and it's something that deals with a topic you typically love a lot. Inevitably hype builds up internally, without ever even realizing it. That's what happened with Wytches for me. I haven't read much Scott Snyder, but I hear almost universal praise for his recent runs on Batman, which I still have yet to check out. I also hear universal praise about this book, with people claiming it's actually terrifying at parts, and with a title like that I know the subject matter is something I'm particularly keen on. So does it manage to live up to my hype that I typically try and avoid having? Well..

Wytches has a pretty good plot overall. It's told in that way where lots of flashbacks will happen alongside the main narrative, which manages to both inform us readers about these characters as well as sometimes directly mirroring events currently happening. It's a storytelling method I'm rather fond of and Snyder pulls it off really well here. I think I'll inevitably need to talk about spoilers, but for now I'll leave it vague.

I think the plot works overall, but it falters a bit in terms of pacing. Pacing is a concept I'm not always too aware of, usually when I hear someone praise or condemn the pacing of something I usually don't notice it. It's just not something that sticks out to me. Here though, the book runs a bit too quickly. Or perhaps some of the early bits could have been tightened up. As it is some exposition is shoved in character's faces and they take it, honestly, a bit too well considering the circumstances.

The comic deals with evil wytches, which aren't quite your typical witch, but similar enough. Towards the end one of the characters learns about them, how to deal with them and some other background information that's really outlandish but he takes it in stride and becomes a warrior by the end. It's a fun read, it just feels frantic. Considering the main hook is a desperate father trying to get his daughter back, maybe it's supposed to mimic that. His desperation leads him to believe anything if it explains what's happening, and what he must do. I never felt lost or that the characters were making decisions that felt out of character, just that it could have simmered a bit more.

Another aspect that the pacing kind of messes up is that some details are just kind of glossed over. There's a major reveal at the end which felt like it could have been worked in a bit better, and perhaps repeat readings would lend me to noticing these connections. After just reading it for the first time though it's a little jarring, and disappointing, typical of the genre. There are other small details too, like I almost missed that the main father and mother lost a child mid-pregnancy. Details like that, I'm a bit more torn on. I like how subtly, and almost naturally, details like that are sprinkled in. It still manages to be impactful, but again maybe there are some missing details that hint at that earlier that I just missed.

I think that's about it for avoiding spoilers, the last paragraph will have my concluding thoughts, but for now, wytches. What a weird direction they went with it. I really like the idea of creatures living in, and dragging it's prey into trees. I also like the idea of these feral creatures granting basically anything to those who feed them children. It really wraps up worldwide witch lore nicely. It keeps the idea of a pact with an evil deity, explains why they target children, they even reference the witch who lives in the gingerbread house that tries to eat Hansel and Gretel.

If it wasn't for my predisposition to loving the idea of a traditional witch, meaning some wild woman who has given up on society and embraced nature and all of it's dark secrets, I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more. They did a good job of going in an interesting direction with the mythos of witches, it just isn't where I had hoped it would go. And after having put reading this off for a few years, that kind of wore me down. Another aspect I didn't really care for was the ending. Again, with details being glossed over, the "pledge" that marks a wytches prey is an... actual substance? It was weird how the main characters sprays the whole town in pledge, and... might have escaped? I'm not entirely certain. A sequel series got announced recently though, so maybe that will explain things more?

You'll note I didn't really touch on the art, one because I'm no artist and don't feel exactly comfortable critiquing drawn art so much. But mainly because... eh. It didn't do much for me. Again, Jock's art has been built up as this perfection of horror art and it just, works. It's a decent enough art style, and I do really like when reality kind of starts breaking down during either violent, or psychologically scarring scenes. It's fine art though, but to me it feels kind of iffy. It's probably just personal taste though.

Ultimately, the thing about Wytches that let me down the most is that it didn't scare me at all. Granted, I've never been terrified, much less scared, by a comic. Word of mouth made some big promises though, and they didn't keep for me. The story is entertaining, fast paced and unique though. Wytches is well worth reading if you want to see an interesting take on the classic witch, or if you like stories about families going through hell to protect one another, or if you like the idea of a cult town because they pops up in the final hour. Here's hoping they manage to maintain the magic in volume two!