When shy 6th-grade shutterbug Whit Garcia starts middle school, he’s forced to join a yearbook club with three other weirdos who will never be voted “most likely to succeed.” But after the ghosts of missing students start haunting them, Whit, Hester, Hillary and Press must solve the supernatural secret behind these spirits — or their yearbook club will be voted most likely to join them.
But are these ghostly students the real bad guys? Or are they just warning Whit and his friends? Warning them about a darkness beyond their schoolyard…a darkness that threatens to swallow the school – and its occupants – whole.
The sophomore offering from Seismic Press, FEARBOOK CLUB is a story all about fitting in, fighting ghosts and forming friendships with other misfits, especially when you’re a misfit yourself. Springing from the pen of writer Richard Ashley Hamilton (How To Train Your Dragon, Guillermo Del Toro’s Trollhunters) and artist Marco Matrone.
First of all, huge thanks to Aftershock Comics; my review copy was damaged and they immediately arranged a different format that worked perfectly. I'm so glad they did, because I would have missed out on this fun. intriguing read.
I'm ashamed to say that I don't read a lot of comics. (Sorry - graphic novels!) I like the artform. I am in awe of how much work goes into them, and I know they're really useful to children who have trouble reading, but I've always been so intimidated by them - they all seem to have huge backstories and canons I don't know, and it's hard to judge exactly which ones are suitable. I love the rise of independent stories like this one; it doesn't need backstory, it may not be continued, it's just beautifully contained in one volume. This is exactly the kind of book we need more of.
The designs made it really clear who was who, which is another thing that I worry about with comics. I'm mildly faceblind and it's tough sometimes to tell people apart, but I had no trouble at all here. Even the ghosts, who by design are kind of samey-samey, have their own personalities and quirks. The story was really good and I loved that even by the end, although she was clearly trying, Whit's mother wasn't 'better'; things like that take a long time to get over, but it's fantastic that she'd started the process.
I really enjoyed this and I'm hoping I'll get to see more by this talented team. (And as if I needed any more reasons, this has definitely taught me to stay away from schools!)
Fearbook Club publishes on the 18th January 2022. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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