A Review: TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE #1

The Fellowship was fortunate enough to obtain a copy of TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE #1 from IDW Publishing. Joe Hill writes, Michael Benedetto adapts, Gabriel Rodriguez draws, Ryan Hill colors, and Robbie Robbins letters.

Meet Ziggy, a hard-partying teen on summer break. He’s having a blast, with the house to himself for the summer and a sweet lifeguard job at the local pool. But when the partying cuts into the sleep time, Ziggy dozes off in the lifeguard chair and a woman drowns on his watch. He’s cleared of all charges, but then something really weird happens to him.

Ziggy’s story is a tough one, made more so by the fact that he genuinely takes the accident personally. It’s easy to get attached to the guy, which makes us feel for him and feel for what happens. And that’s just good writing. I can’t imagine better art for this story, either, with what might be the most expressive face work I’ve seen in a while.

This book sparked from Joe Hill’s work to reboot the ‘80s TV series, but I like how it works in comics form. And it looks like the start of an exciting anthology series, so get on board here at the beginning.

TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE #1 is available now at your FLCS or at idwpublishing.com.

~Mike ( @MikeyGeek )