Mike, Paloma, and Zach picked some real horror comics to discuss for this week's episode, all part of IRCB's 2026 Reading Challenge! Teen horror, gross stuff, demons, Filipino horror comics, and more!
Mike, Paloma, and Zach picked some real horror comics to discuss for this week's episode, all part of IRCB's 2026 Reading Challenge! Teen horror, gross stuff, demons, Filipino horror comics, and more!
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Timestamps:
Panel: Mike Rapin, Zach McCrary, Paloma Deerfield
Producer: Mike Rapin
Post Production & Social Media: Kait Lamphere, Daniel Martinez
Prooflistener: Nick White
Editor: Zander Riggs
[0:13] This is the I read Comic Books podcast, the very best podcast for regular comic book fans. I'm your host, Mike Rapin. Joining me this week, 2 teenagers destined to die tonight. This week I'm joined by Paloma Deerfield. Hello, hello, hello. And Zach Vacrerie. What's happening? I'm sorry to spoil the future for you guys, but I think that time will eventually get you. Maybe not tonight. I don't know. I'm just saying things. I've been on borrow time for years. Yeah. I'm so excited to be here to talk about comic books because, you know, it's another week and we read comics and this week in particular we are talking about horror comics because we are talking about books that are meeting the theme of the month for our reading challenge this year, and that is horror comics, legit, scary, slasher, bloody murder, aliens, whatever you want to think.
[0:59] If it's in the horror genre, and it's gonna scare you. That's what we're here to talk about tonight. So Zach, Paloma and myself. We all grabbed a handful of comics and said, let's read some scary stuff. See if we can get spooked out. I unfortunately picked the same trope twice in a row. Um, because it sounded really exciting to me, but I'll tell you guys about that in a 2nd instead, let's get started with our 2 mandated questions that we have legally on the show. That is, how have you been? How have comic books been? Let's start with you Paloma. Well, Mike, Zach, comics, I must say have been awesome. I feel like we're in a single issue Renaissance. That's pretty damn cool to see. At least some good number ones coming out.
[1:39] Um, so that's had me stoked. But, um, I was tasked with reading horror, which is a genre, maybe outside of comics that I like never touch. Yes, same. Yeah. I don't partake in the movies. My girlfriend will go by herself or with friends. I'll be like, thanks for the invite, babe. No thanks, though. Yeah, yeah.
[2:06] Definitely out of my, not comfort zone because I feel like sometimes with comics, it's a little bit more inviting for people that want to get into maybe genres they're not into. I think sometimes the imagery helps or like, at least in terms of anticipation, you have a little bit more control where you can like peek out of the next page and maybe, maybe spoil it and or protect yourself from a true jump scare, right? Mm-hmm. So... A little hard to like find something that I thought would like maybe make me feel creepy or something that wasn't too like not scary and just grow. So I was trying to find something that was, You know, still good and satisfying. But not too scary. Something called PTSD radio, a manga.
[2:53] I don't think I'll ever read that one because like the creative team behind it got so scared that they stopped writing it allegedly. Excuse me? Yeah. stuff was happening to them. Really? I imagine that up for the post. I want to know. We will get that. We will get there. So anyway, I didn't want to be... can't touch that. So I had to find a nice happy medium. So I went with something that was, I feel like, a flash in the pan, maybe something that could have like achieved greatness, but I think it, this imprint came out maybe like 2019, 2020, but I read a book from DC's Hill House comics imprint. Uh, Joe Hill of lock and key fame was curating this, this imprint. And so I read the plunge, written by Joe Hill himself in art by Stuart Immanen, who I'm a huge fan of from like his work from Marvel.
[3:51] And I think he's maybe in retirement. I'm not sure, but I was shocked he was on this... Yeah. I was shocked he was on this book because I was like, how did I not know about this? Because I feel like I would have subbed when it was coming out in singles, even if it was horror. Mm-hmm. This book was really cool, obviously extremely biased because of Stuart Eminem and like he brought the heat here, but the plunge is like a love crafting horror where there's elements of like cosmic proportion outside of our control, but we're following a marine biologist. Uh, like boat, boat wreckage, cleanup crew, and then like a mathematician from this massive oil company. And what brings them together is a like a signal, an emergency assist signal from like a 40 year old shipwreckage.
[4:49] I think, somewhere off the coast of Russia. I know that's probably a huge coast. I'm, don't ask me about geographics locations and all that.
[5:00] Um, but yeah, this ragtag team just gets in like way over their heads with just a cosmic entity. I don't want to spoil it. But I thought it was really good, really great, kind of like suspense and buildup, each issue or like chapter, essentially as I'm reading it on hoopla, ended with a pretty awesome cliffhanger where I'm like, I don't know how they're going to get out of this one, Scoob. And you'll have to see if they do.
[5:28] Interesting. Joe Hill, I feel like, like you said, lock and key of, you know, fame, obviously a very prolific author in general. I mean, he's the son of Stephen King. Like, how can you not be? I thought that was King's kid. But at the same time, like, I feel like every time he's dabbled in comics, it's been such a like wide breadth of like, quality for lack of a better term. Like, I, this to me sounds like an incredible book. Like, I'll be honest. I love lock and key, and then by the end, I was kind of like, all right, are we getting over the, are we getting through it or we, you know, what's actually happening here? Um, so this, this to me sounds like the perfect little like one and done type story. Was this like a 5 or 6 issue series or something like that?
[6:11] Yeah. I can't remember how many issues it was, but it wasn't, it was a series, like a miniseries. I thought it was, the pacing was, I haven't read Lock and Key, so I don't really actually know what his writing style is like. Really good dialogue, I felt like.
[6:28] I thought I thought it was quite good. Finished it in one sitting. Oh nice. That was really cool. A review I was reading just to, or maybe someone's recommendation compared it to the movie The Thing, which I was like, maybe I should see this movie. Oh my god, it's a classic. The setup. excuse me. The setup is kind of like the thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's funny that you say that actually, because I'm looking at the art and I was getting thing vibes and especially like, and there are some really nice, like, grotesque images with what I will describe as centipede looking things. Yeah. And I'm all about this. I'm digging it. I have so much to say about the thing. We're going to put that in the post-credits along with this PTSD manga.
[7:18] I am not a huge horror person. I think the thing might be one of the best movies ever made, period. Wow, 100%. There's so much to say about it. Paloma, I appreciate this recommendation. Folks need a book. It sounds like the plunge is fantastic, but Zach, let's move over to you. Tell me how have you been? How have comic book's been. We got a couple books to get through, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna move us along a little bit. I mean, I've been great, man. It's, uh, we talked about it last time I was on. a spooky season. I'm watching horror movies. I'm reading horror comics. I'm doing a, I'm doing some new comics, do revisiting some old favorites, some new volumes of old favorites, and it's been a good time, and one of the new ones that I'm checking out is the book Infidel from, it's a, I've got the trade paperback, from Image Comics, written by Pornsack Pichettshote, art by Aaron Campbell, Colors, Jose Villarubia, and Letters by Jeff Powell.
[8:12] So for anyone who hasn't heard of this one. Infidel, on the surface is a haunted house story or like haunted apartment building more specifically. It is the story of a Muslim Pakistani American woman who moves into a building with her fiance, his kid and his mom, all white. That's that comes up. They moved into this place because the rent was cheap. Why was the rent cheap? Well, a while back, a bomb exploded in the building and it's still being remodeled. And of course, some people died in the explosion. I'm sure you see where that's going, you know, uh, and infidel is also, though, it's also a story about racism and the the many different avenues it comes from, anger, fear, et cetera. And see, the bomb that went off was allegedly set there by an Arab man, and so neighbors who live there through that.
[9:04] Well, they tend to give Ayesha, our main character, a lot of side eye just for existing. And, um, on top of the feelings of being unwelcome, she is vibing from the neighbors, she's also starting to see and hear things around the building and whatever those things are. They're definitely 100% focused on her and in a violent ragey sort of way. And they also seem to feed on raw, negative emotions swirling around within the building. So, of course, we learn what's behind all this by the end, but I won't, you know, I won't spoil all that. But Pichetto attacks a lot of very, like, real issues while telling a pretty decent haunted house story that I think would be better served as a film, if I'm being honest.
[9:49] I liked it as a comic a lot. Um, but the book is very clearly trying to give you some jump scare energy and at times, like that just doesn't, I feel like that doesn't work as well in comics. You can't really do a jump scare when you can kind of see the next block coming, you know? The thing is, infidel is the only book where that's ever worked on me. Oh, yeah. I feel like in reading this book, I have never been more creeped out. I know you got more to say on this act, but like, this is a book that I read and I was literally terrified to turn the page. Like, I didn't know what type of scary shit they were going to throw at B-Dex. So like, maybe not jump scares, but like genuinely scared of reading that book is great. No, absolutely.
[10:31] I totally agree. Like, the art is amazing because like, there is like scenes that are just so fantastic. I like the kind of dirty etchy style that Rillarubia goes for in this book and the ghosties, they're like pretty grotesque and definitely something that would make me move out of an apartment immediately if I ever saw them, keep my shit. I'm out. Like, you know, like I'm gone. But yeah, like that was the best part for me. Like, as far as, like, the scary horrorness of it is just seeing the designs for these, these ghosties and the things that are like swirling around this building and messing with Aisha. I thought that was amazing. The art in the book is phenomenal. Um, yeah, but I enjoyed.
[11:12] I enjoyed Infidel and I appreciated the ability to discuss these pivotal issues within the context of a horror story, but I think horror is good at that. Like good horror in movies and anything is good at being able to like put that together, you know, in my opinion anyway. Totally. Um, I, I, I don't know, I don't want this to sound too weird, like too off. I mean it in a bad way, but I appreciate that the book was not hyper preachy, if that makes sense. Like, it gave it, it, Pichetcho did an amazing job of getting everything across that he wanted to. Um, but we didn't lose the story in the process because there, like, it's easy to do that. Whereas suddenly the story almost grinds to a halt and it's just about the message being told. you know what I mean?
[11:57] Yeah, sure. And, and, uh, and he does such a great job of, of balancing that where it doesn't feel like it's become an essay instead of a, instead of a story. And they were able to give us a sense of what life is like to be a Muslim woman like Aisha, the extra hoops, she seems to have to jump through to be viewed as a human rather than just a list of words that some people are afraid of or simply don't understand, including her own future mother-in-law. Uh, which is, you know, an important part. But if I'm being honest, there was one thing about the comic that kind of bugged me. Uh, I'm, this isn't super spoilery, but about halfway through, we we kind of main, we, we do a shift in main characters.
[12:41] And, uh, and it goes to her, her like friend Medina, who becomes like the 2nd chunk of the story.
[12:50] But at the same time, it felt really odd to me that we focused so much on Aisha and we got to really care about her and want to follow her and then just boom shift to the her friend for the climax of the story. Like the climax isn't even the person that we've been following this whole time. Which bugged me. It, like, it, it bought, that really bothered me because, you know, I liked Ayesha. I wanted to follow her. I wanted to see her have a moment to overcome something that she never gets the chance to overcome. And I'm not saying she's dead or anything, folks. I'm not spoiling anything in that regard. I'm just saying that we got a shift and it goes to the other person and that I wasn't completely behind. I still liked that chunk of the story.
[13:34] It was good and the art was amazing, but I just, I wanted Ayesha. Like, I was focused on her, and then it was weird to me that we got a complete switch in that 2nd half. But still, still a great read. beautiful book. I do suggest that if you're looking for horror books in the spooky season, that it is worth checking out, and especially now that you can go unprepared for what I just told you, maybe it won't bother you the way it did me. Yeah, I, man, I think, I, I agree with you. And most of what you said here. I think the switch is extremely pivotal in how the story gets told by the end because too much is revealed from Aisha's perspective, but then as soon as we get an external perspective of what's happening, I feel like it adds more weight to how the story unfolds. I guess that without spoiling too much personally.
[14:26] That's my take. Um, man, if you haven't read Infill, genuinely, though, this is like the book that put, uh, you know, uh, the author on the, on the, like, in out to the world for a lot of people, and then everyone went and read the good Asian. You haven't read the Good Asian, you should go read the Good Asian. Fantastic. But yeah, like, I absolutely love this book. And it terrified me because I lived in New York and I lived in a creepy building at one and I was like, none of that. I don't need this. So you had like the firsthand like, oh, there are creepy buildings like this. absolutely. I mean like, yeah. I understand why this book was told for multitude of reasons, but that's creepy, like building perspective.
[15:03] I'm like, dude, what a what a great way to like twist the the narrative and do like a haunted house in the in a big city. You know, I think that's, yeah, really fun. Yeah. Paloma, have you read this book by chance? I've read the 1st issue when it came out, and I thought the art was stellar. I was like holy crap. Yeah, you can't lose with Aaron Campbell. No. Definitely. But now I need to read it to completion. I did not know that there was a POV swap. Now I'm intrigued. Yeah, you know, Paloma will decide whether or not it was a good idea. How about that? Like I said, I still enjoyed it, even though that bugged me because I was very invested in her. But, you know, I get it.
[15:50] Well, cool. Let me talk about what's been up with me. I've been I've been busy. My house is sick. It's what happens when you have a child that goes to daycare. So I'm running on the last fumes of gas to get this episode out today. So I read some books in a hurry over the last couple days. A couple that were fine horror. But then I read 2 back to back that were just like, all right, thank you, sweet shop. Kenny, if you're not listening, I know you're not. Uh, uh, thank you for promoting discounted horror books on your, uh, your sweet shop little app because it allowed me to find some pretty cool stuff that I probably wouldn't have grabbed otherwise as I was kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel for stuff that I had in my own collection.
[16:28] Um, and I couldn't just reread those old Hellraiser comics again because I feel like that would be cheating. Sorry, Paul, I know that Paul G, I know you're a big fan as well, but I did sit down and read a book called Lake Yellowwood Slaughter. Uh, this is originally a Kickstarter book, uh, but it's written by uh, Alejandro Arbana with art by Gavin Guidri. Colors by Chris O'Halloran, letters by our good pal Hassan, Ozani, Ozmani, Elhau. This is a slasher book. At a former camp where something, quote, something bad happened all those years ago. We've got yuppies who have built fancy cabins along the same lake where a camp is. Um, so they're not too far away from the handful of or the dozens and dozens of kids that are over at this camp um, that has just recently reopened.
[17:10] Some of the kids may actually be the kids of said yuppies that are at this house. But now that it's the future. Uh, the, the camp is open and the killer is back and the killer's not hunting kids now, he's hunting adults, um, these old friends who went to Lake Yellowwood years ago reunite in different stages of their life, some with kids at the camp, like I said, um, this time it's not the campers who are being hunting. I already said that. I just read my notes. The thing that's that was really interesting about this book is the pitch was Lake Yellowwood Slaughter is the 1st quote, official comic book adaptation of the 1983 cult horror hit that never existed. So someone took this idea of like, this is a movie, was a movie, and we adapted it into a comic book, but the movie never existed, and you can feel that like from the get go.
[17:53] This feels like an offshoot of an offshoot of like a, you know, a Michael Myers movie or what was it? Friday the 13th Friday? Where do they go to the camp? Is that Friday the 13th? Crystal Lake. Yeah, Camp Crystal Lake, right? This feels like a Jason movie. That what I'm thinking. But not. There's something else going on here. The main characters are all these adults who are having have weird intermingled lives. Uh, and, you know, we've got our our, our cascading list of people that potentially could be the person that's the killer. Like they hit every single trope really, really well. I did think one of the twists in the middle of this book was really good. I really appreciated the attachment to the gimmick.
[18:31] Like everything feels 80s nostalgia, but it takes place kind of now-ish. You not really sure of the time period. Um, maybe it's, I think, I think maybe the implementation of it was that it takes place in the 80s and the murders happened in the 70s or something, right? Like, that's, that's kind of the way they tell it. But, uh, overall, it's fine. Like it's 105 pages. You fly through it really fast. Um, pretty easy read, not too complex of a story. It's exactly what you want out of like an 80s slasher movie. I will say like, this definitely feels like an 80s movie, but I feel like because it's a comic and they have a little bit more room to breathe. There was a little bit more actual story. Was it just like kill, kill, kill, kill.
[19:09] Like, I think a lot of movies do with like, oh, no, we're going to go kiss and then 2 people die. You know, like there was a little bit more nuance, which I appreciated, right? Like added to the story. But the funniest thing, I think, at the end is you get to the end, you see who done it, you get to go through all the stuff, and then there's like some back matter, and it's like 2 of the comic book characters are talking as if they're actors, and they're like, here's a scene for an alternate ending, and then they do it, but they're like, we only, we only have the Italian version. So, you know, subtitles have been added. So all the dialogues like in Italian and there's like yellow subtitles. I'm like, okay, I appreciate you guys stuck to the gimmick.
[19:44] It's fun. So if you're looking for like a quick read, honestly, yellow, Lake Yellowwood slaughter is a lot of fun. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would because I think the, it's like a 90 minute movie, right? Like if a 90 minute movie was 120 minutes. You kind of be bored of the concept. And like this book being 105 pages, it's like not too much, but not too little, like it's chunky without being like too drawn out. Like, I'm sure they could have shoved an additional, like, 30 pages in to make it feel like a trade paperback. But then it would have just been superfluous. Like you would have gotten too much backstory and it would have been like, 0 my god, just get to the killing. And instead, we get like little bits and pieces.
[20:21] Meanwhile, people are getting killed left and right. It's it's exactly what you want out of like a crappy horror movie. So, yeah, I had a lot of fun with this. It's it's on Sweet Shop. I think you can buy it on the fly goats flying goats press website. If you're looking for it. again, Kickstarter comic, but like from a small publisher that's trying to get stuff out there. Have you guys you guys heard of this at all? Am I just doing the thing that I do every episode where I just not heard it? Okay. Well, you know, it's a cool comic, you know, that you guys hadn't heard of, so I'm glad to bring something to the table. You're so cool, Mike, bringing us all the new stuff. Thanks, man.
[20:59] Well, let me let me kick things over to Paloma again. What's another book that you read for this horror theme today?
[21:06] So I, being me, I also had to read a manga. I didn't get through this one because it's like a 3 in one volume. Um, do want to finish it, but it's called Kurasagi Corpse Delivery Service. It's written by AG Otsuka with art by Hosui Yamazaki. And this is one of those books that whenever I see it, like in shops. It'd be shrink wraps. I'm like, damn, it's like, the covers are pretty cool in the sense where it's like, pieces, like just like isolated pieces of like the human body. Um, and then they're like brown with like just like little stripes of color. So it's always been compelled and then like they're chunky and they're from Dark Horse. So that just adds to the intrigue is just there, but don't really get a chance to flip through it.
[21:57] But it's on hoopla now, because all like the dark horse manga's on there.
[22:02] And it follows this group of students at a Buddhist university. So that's like an interesting component to me as an outsider. And they each kind of bring a unique set of skills that help them track down dead bodies, one girl, uh, studied, 0 man. I guess worked at a, worked at a funeral home in the United States. Oh, embalming. So embalming is not something that happens in Japan. So there I was like, oh, I guess I didn't think about that. So we have a her character. We have a guy that is a dowser, which like he can like is supposed to be able to find water, but he can't find water. He just finds corpses. And then kind of like our main character, if he touches a dead body, can kind of like hear the dead's thoughts, very disjointed thoughts, but he can hear the dead's thoughts.
[22:57] And he's also the only person with a, like a shaved, like Buddhist monk head, which seems fitting at a Buddhist universe. Maybe it's just like a religious university, but yeah. Definitely like zany character quirks, yet still mild, the horror aspect is like the dead bodies, um, you know, delving into like last wishes, maybe, or being like, I need to be buried here for this reason, you find out if it's like a really fucked up reason or messed up reason. Just yeah. It's shrink wrap because there's also just like corpse nudity, which I'm like, whoa.
[23:44] Interesting. Yeah, yeah. I looked up the cover for this when you describe it. I was like, this name sounds familiar and it's the exact book that I thought that's like, I've seen these. I've seen them at vault. I have seen them at a bunch of other places, then I've just, I've always been curious, but yeah, the shrink wrap is like, well, you can't page through it, but um, interesting. So did you feel like this was more zany than it was horror or like, was it still kind of dark? Because I know that you can go pretty dark when it comes to manga? Like there's plenty of stuff we could have brought up today. Like you said, the PTSD book. but obviously didn't go down that path. But yeah, so where do you think this falls on that on that spectrum?
[24:20] I would say it's definitely dark with like, the characters have like a zany quirk or there's like good banter, but it's, it's certainly, I would say dark. Um, Yeah. Yeah, so... Definitely want to read, it's, it started in 2002 and it's still ongoing. It's 32 volume, or at least like on Wikipedia, it's 2002 to present. I didn't check when the last chapter came out. I have not verified that, but 32 volumes right now. I'm like, how many corpses can these folks, you know, look into them? I was about to say that's a lot of dead people. That's sure. Okay. Okay. interesting.
[25:05] Well, So I guess, I'm wondering, like, would you recommend this to someone who's, like, looking to get into slightly darker manga, like, because in my mind, I'm like, chainsaw man's pretty dark in a lot of ways, but, like, berserk is, like, insanely dark. So like, I guess where are we on that on that path, you know? I would say it's not berserk. I would say. Because the art style even reminded me of this series called Homunculus that came out in 2003. So I feel like the art styles are similar and homunculus is described as like a psychological horror. There's not like ghosts or anything, but also kind of like maybe mind reading, just odd. That's an odd one. I don't even know if I would recommend that one necessarily, but it reminded me of homunculus in this sense.
[25:56] of like, it's dark and there's like, look, you're looking into like the human psyche and human condition, but like our main characters, at least as of now, are not like part of that darkness. They are like bringing it to light as they like interact with these corpses or like maybe the people that wronged them while they were living. Gotcha. Okay. Well, I'm glad that someone is reading this comic. Clearly they've been publishing it. Dark Horse keeps putting out volumes and I always see them, but like, I've never actually known a person who's read this series, even though like I've seen it for forever. So thank you for bringing this to our attention. Um, Zach, I got we got to move on to you. What other book did you read for this for this topic today?
[26:39] Uh, so this one, um, was one that I wanted to revisit because I haven't read it for a few years, and it's a comic that I feel like most people have never heard of. And so I want to keep shouting it to the to the breeze because more people should read it. Adults should read it. I preface that. This is a very adult horror comic, and it is called Roman Ritual. It was 4 issues long from Amigo Comics, written by El Torres, Art by Jaime Martinez. I feel like I keep bringing up exorcism comics on this show. Like, I don't know how many exorcism books. I don't know. You got a Catholicism kick at Kink. I get it, dude. fine. guess so, man. But this book is, it was so good. And it accomplished such a great story in concise, concisely in 4 issues.
[27:29] Um, and the way it's put together is just really good. It's about this guy named Father John Brennan, he's a troubled, self-exiled exorcist, and after a gruesome murder shakes the Vatican, specifically like a cardinal that he was, you know, I guess, mentored by, Brennan is pulled back to Rome to face a dark, ancient evil, and suspected demon, demonic possession creeping into the heart of the Catholic Church itself. The pope is possessed by a demon. Cool. Yeah. And it's, 0 man, like the arch in this book is what you just did there, the art in this book is heavy metal. Okay, I mean, Jaime Martinez does not mess around with some of the nasty, like just gross imagery, but also then there are just these, it's just so cinematic.
[28:20] Every page is just so beautifully cinematic, even in its grotesquery, which I really appreciate it. And I like El Torres's writing a lot. Um, he, like, he focuses mostly on, on, like, horror stuff and I really enjoy this book because The dialogue that we get between these characters is interesting. I mean, John Brennan, the character, Father Brennan, is kind of the cliche, like something that you see in a lot of things in movies and stuff where it's like, I'm not in that business anymore. You know, like, it couldn't handle me or like, you're the ones that kicked me out and now you want me back, you know, that kind of thing. He's always smoking cigarettes and like when you 1st meet him, he's like doing an exorcism in like a, like a small village in South America and it's like hardcore.
[29:09] And then, of course, as soon as that's over, he's smoking a cigarette and someone walks up and is like, we need you back, Brennan, you know? I'm not coming back. You know it's that kind of thing. Cool. So it starts really ridiculous, but it gets so good. And again, in 4 issues, it tells such a great story. And it's weirdly, like, I didn't look up the time frame, but the story, you know, deals with the pope being possessed by a demon in an interesting way, and I think that it happened around the same time, as Pope Benedict actually had to step down due to health reasons. And it feels like maybe there's an illusion there. He like, you know, I thought I thought that was kind of fun. Uh, maybe not to some people, but to me, it's...
[29:54] Sure, sure, but there's a fun, fun little illusion. Yeah, Roman ritual. It's hard to find. You're gonna have to probably eBay it, but it's, it's, it's a fun little romp in 4 issues. Yeah, I think you talked about this like 3 years ago and I, only because I remember seeing one of the covers and just being like, oh, that's maybe too creepy for me, you know, like something about creepy nuns on the cover of something. I just can't do it. I don't understand. Interesting. Well, thank you for reminding us of this old weird dark comic. It's, I mean, maybe I should actually sit down and read it. I always find that these things are never as scary as they actually are actually make them out to be in my head.
[30:29] I don't know. what you said about infidel. don't know if you should read this one. Okay. Okay. Fine by me. Well, let me talk about... know about it. Of course, of course. Let me talk about one more book before we get to the top of our pile and wrap up this episode and then get into I got a whole huge list of things we're going to talk about in the post-credits. So if you're not a patron, go to patreon.com slash IRCB podcast and get access to what we're going to talk about is New York City Comic-Con follow-up. Midnight Marvel, PTSD manga, the thing, the movie. We got so many things. But, uh, let me talk about a book that another book. And that is dead teenagers. This is by Jude Ellison S. Doyle, art by Caitlin Caitlin Yarski.
[31:07] This book, Fantastic, guys. I think if you like good fun, horror, like high school horror romps, people, I think, have described like some buffy the vampire slayer vibes without the, you know, weirdness of it all. Um, and it's, it's about 5 teenagers who find themselves in a time loop repeating their deaths at high school prom over and over and over in crazier and crazier ways, such as, oh, no, vampires attacked. Oh no, aliens attacked. Oh, no, now our prom went to space. Oh, our professor, our teacher decided to bring his radiated gerbils to the school. Like, every time it's different, but they know that every time one person's going to die first, another person's going to hide and they're going to die, another person's going to get crazy and they're going to die, and the last person who seems to be the linchpin to it all, we're not really sure is not going to die, but everything's going to reset.
[31:57] And they all know that this happens. So it's like Cabin in the Woods meets uh, Groundhog's Day, which I hate making comparisons like that, but it's so perfect and so well done. Um, I really think that if you liked, if you like the idea of like repeating loop stories, like Jude Ellison S. Doyle and Caitlin Yarski just fantastically knock it out of the park here, um, the thing that really surprised me about this book, though, was how attached I became to the whole cast. Like we keep repeating things over and over, but we get to know them through each of these moments despite knowing how things are going to go every single time. But the story is less about like the funny scenarios they find themselves in and more about figuring out, well, what happened?
[32:38] Because at some point in this book, pretty early on, the loop stops. And we get some flashbacks, we get some flash forwards and we get a drastic left turn that I was like, well, I've never seen someone do a groundhog's day like this before. Um, I really, really, really liked how well this was done. I really liked getting to know all of the characters with the exception of one character who we don't get to know very much for reasons that are in the story. Um, But they're not reasons that it's like, oh, it was all their fault. It's something so smart. Again, I have to commend this creative team for coming up with such an interesting twist. Um, on the whole book. because once we understand the why of the story, I was really impressed by like how they earned all of the storytelling by laying these breadcrumbs, like good writing does.
[33:26] Um, but like, you could think with a story like this, you could kind of just ham fist something to just say, oh, Deus ex Machina, suddenly this is why, but it's like, no, we get an actual explanation and it all makes sense and it's really, really smart. Um, I, The only thing, the other thing I'll say about this is like Caitlin Yarsky's art is stupendous. Uh, like putting to page dozens and dozens of like crazy horror moments of like, here's an interesting way for someone to die. Here's a scenario that you don't know how they got from high school to this thing, but suddenly they're on the edge of a volcano. We don't understand. We don't need to know because this is just a quick flash. And they're all drawn superbly well.
[34:03] Like it feels very YA, but with a lot of really dark horror elements at the same time. So have to applaud the team for coming up with all that. Um, the last thing I'll say about this is a little bit. there's a content warning here. There is some implied adult teenager proclivities that are kind of yucky, but it, it's part of the story in a way that I don't think is like super gross so much as it's like a thing that is part of the narrative that makes sense. So um, really, really like this book. Honest to God, I was so impressed, bought this on a whim because it looked interesting. I thought Groundhog's Day. This is crazy for horror. let's see what happens and it totally paid off. And it's so so well done at the end.
[34:42] Um, so yeah, if you're looking for something different. Dead teenagers. Fantastic. That's a weird way to pull a say a sentence out of context. But... Episode title, dead teenagers. Fantastic. Exactly.
[34:57] Yeah, no, this is really good. I really liked it guys. So yeah, check it out, check it out, check it out. Let's move on to comics that are on the top of our pile. comics that are new or older, just something we're trying to get off of our shelves. We got to get through this episode. I don't know why I'm in a rush. I really just want to talk about New York City Comic-Con, I think, but I want to shout out folks hanging out with us live today on Discord as we record this episode. Paul G is going to be reading Clive Barker's from Epic Comics Hellraiser, some really old collected comics. Avocado Kenobi is going to be reading Tomb of Dracula from 1972 issues 7 through 12. What a crazy pull. Can you even read that legally on the internet?
[35:34] Get back to us. Now that Marvel has destroyed their internet app. Where will you read old 60s and 70s era comics? I don't know. But I will, we don't have to answer that right now. Let me kick things over to Zach. What is on the top of your pile this week? All right, so on top of my pile, I'm going to be rereading 2 things and a brand new other thing. So I'm reading the book Trace. It's a comic straight out of the Philippines. It was brought over to America by a Blaze comics a couple years back, and I did an episode about it with my buddy Al, who's from the Philippines, and he's the one that introduced me, and it was fun reading that with him because he's pointing things out because he lived in Manila, and he's like, oh, I used to drive down that street where this ghost woman is killing people. Like, I know that street and it is scary.
[36:22] And so and he's like, you really do want to rush down that street. You don't want to be there. And he's like, so that was really fun. So a trace say, it's, um, it's written by Budget Tan, art by Cagio Baldicimo. I believe I've discussed this either on this show before, or I definitely did episodes on the comics that we love for volumes one and two. And I'm going to be reading volume 3 brand new, which I've never done before. It's called Mass Murders. So, um, if if you've never heard of Trace, the focal point is a girl named Alexandra Trace. Think of John Constantine, but now imagine that he is instead a 5 foot tall Filipino, who is always flanked by 2 minor deities who act as her gun toting bodyguards.
[37:12] And that's that's what you're getting here. She acts as the detective for the supernatural in Manila. And when the police chief comes across something that he just can't make any sense of, he calls in Alexandra. It's her family business, her grandfather and her father before her had the same role, though the actions of those family members have kind of soured the family name a bit to the underworld of Manila. She solves murders, deals with vengeful spirits, and even brokers peace deals with various entities like the Aswang, which are kind of like vampires, but they tend to hang on rooftops and try to suck babies out of pregnant women with their long tongues. That is a real, that is a real myth from the Philippines.
[37:56] And, uh, yeah, and you, uh, you can kill them with stingray tails. And apparently, like, you keep those in your doorway. But I digress. So I recently picked up volume 3 of the series after having been away from it for a couple years. And, um, what I love about Tracy is it's not, it not only has stark and frightening imagery, but it is also a great lens, like I said, into the scary side of Filipino culture, and mass murders, according to the back of the book, is about an ancient being that thrives on violence and thirsts for blood, has found new disciples in this modern day city. Sacrifice has been demanded, rituals must be executed. And I'm excited about that. Like the fact that it's going to be like one narrative throughout this entire book.
[38:43] Like usually they sprinkle in other things, but then there's like an overarching story and each thing and Tracy is, it's, it's always been one part detective, one part horror story, and I'm, I'm looking forward to rereading the 1st 2 volumes and then hitting up something brand new. Nice. Yeah, Kate Lanfear talked about this a little while back on the show and I remember being like, that sounds very cool. Glad to hear that like you're into it enough that you're like, I'm going to reread and get caught up. Um, I'm going to say you both should be proud of me for not making a political joke when you read that description of this book. That's all I'm saying. I could have easily done it, all right?
[39:19] But yeah, this is this is cool. I know the art in this book is fantastic. Oh, just looking at it. So, uh, yeah, let us know how you like volume three, Zach, um, sounds sounds very fun. Will do And fun factoid Baldicimo when they brought it to America. He actually went back and redid a lot of the art that he wasn't happy with and was like, I want this to be perfect. So that's why it is just beautifully done because he rerendered some of it to make it even better. Nice. Well, I will, let me talk about what's on the top of my pile really quick, and then Paloma will get to you. My book this week, I'm going to pick a Halloween book because we're talking about horror books, let's talk about another one.
[39:57] I'm going to read beneath the trees where nobody sees Halloween special, which is a little anthology book. I think it's already out. I haven't read it yet. I think I or maybe it's coming out. I can't remember. Um, but I know that it's Patrick Corvath, who's doing some writing and art. We got Jared Cullum doing writing our Che Grayson, James Tynan the Fourth, Tony Fleek's doing some writing. Dave Lockter, Matt Emmons, Matt Emmons, you guys, doing some art, with letters by our good pal, Hassan's money. El Howe. I don't care what this book is about. I'm going to read it. It's a cute, you know, it's it's our cute horror book. But what's interesting is like, I think the pitch for this book is years have passed and Samantha Strong left Woodbrook, but her legend has only grown.
[40:36] Spoilers, if you haven't read beneath the trees where nobody sees, it's okay. Um, so it'll be interesting to see where this book goes. Like, now the cat's out of the bag, more and more horrific murders have been tied back to her. Some of her doing, others mere folklore, but all absolutely gripping stories featuring everyone's favorite cuddly serial killer. So let's see what these other writers who, I guess, know what they're doing. I don't know, Tony Fleeks, James Tynan, Jay Grayson. don't know. These guys might know what's going on. Um, Jerry Culler, call him, but yeah, I'm interested to see what happens here. It's always fun to give more beneath the trees where nobody sees. I also don't want Patrick Corvath to get pigeonholed with this series.
[41:14] Please God, do something else. and I, because I loved free-for-all, really wants you to do something that's not beneath the trees, even though I know it's massively successful because everybody loves Dexter and I get it. But also, please don't grow to hate the thing that we all love. That's that's all I'm saying. Um, yeah. You guys are up with this, right? You guys, you're on board with more beneath the trees right now. Well, I love the series, and yeah, it's fun to get some new stuff for it, but I do also agree that there should be a cutoff point because he's he's a great writer, but I agree. I don't want to see him get pigeonholed. want to see him branch out and do more interesting things. Yeah. absolutely.
[41:55] Ploma, are you hyped on this book as well? You see a lot of nodding on your own. Oh, yes. I did read it and I thought I thought it was awesome. I'm a big fan of the series and I thought the 2nd part... Right of spring? Yeah. I thought it was a great addition to the lore. But yes. singing the praises of that one a lot, I believe. Yeah. I thought that was a really good follow-up too. Like a massively successful could have been one story. And but yes, it would be cool to see him do other stuff because is it called free fall? I can't remember what it was called. Yeah, I prefer all my words together because I talked too fast, but yeah. I thought that was awesome as well, and like entirely different from beneath the trees, and I was like, what can't Patrick do?
[42:43] Exactly. Exactly. So Patrick, I know you're listening. Let us know what you have coming down the pipe next. Yeah, please. Tell us what's on the top of your pie before we wrap this episode up. Top of my pile is a book that is about to be out or maybe is already out. Legion of Superheroes number two, written by Joshua Williamson with art by Hayden Sherman. I loved issue one. A lot of it has to do with like Hayden Sherman's art, but, um, Williamson's writing, I feel like, like kept me like intrigued and engaged. Legion of superheroes is like a huge blank spot for me with DC comics. Um, so I thought that was a cool, cool 1st issue, and I'm, I'm just stoked for more, more Hayden Sherman art, but yeah, to get to know these characters where, at the comic shop, so many people are like, I love Saturn Girl, and I was like, don't know a damn thing about her.
[43:40] I don't understand how Hayden Sherman, much like Dan Mora, is capable of putting out 2 books at once or multiple books at once. What's happening? Do they just work like years in advance or something? Like that's, that's the only thing I think can explain it, right? And to be so prolific and yet like the art is just so masterfully done every time. Exactly. Please don't hurt yourself. Like, we need you to do, like, we want, we want distance. We don't want we don't need short bursts. I want more Hayden Sherman art in my life for the rest of my life.
[44:12] Um, I don't know anything about Legion of Superheroes either, Paloma, um, but Joshua Williamson and Hayden Sherman on that comic is enough for me to go, maybe I'll get that 1st trade because I don't know. I know that they are like 90s and 80s classics. Like people just love those characters, but yeah, I'm also just like totally blanked. I know that there is a super person of some kind that is part of that group. But, um, Question Paloma. Since it's a blank spot for you as well, within the 1st 2 issues, do you feel like you were able to just kind of slide in and be okay not having any previous knowledge? I think so, because they're like changing it up. Like, I don't know anyone's powers, but like the premise is the premise is just like superheroes are outlawed.
[44:56] So I feel like that kind of story is almost easy to get easier to get into because it just sets, it's a very clear premise and they're called superheroes. I don't think the legion is formed. Yet, they're just, they're like kind of, um, scattered on their different planets. I don't know, they came from different planets. Interesting. So they're getting the gang together in this series. Yes. Okay, okay. I feel like it's quite inviting. There's no prerequisite to be able to read this. That's cool. Damn. Damn, my reading read in the studio. I don't need to read another DC book, guys. Well, I'm going to contemplate that in our as we get to our post-credits. I think that's where we're going to wrap up today, though. Thank you guys for your time today.
[45:38] This is fantastic. I appreciate the various ranges of comics that we brought up today, if only because there's so many good horror comics out there, but there are far many more worse horror comic books out there. And I think we found some really good ones.
[45:55] But again, I do want to thank both Zach and Paul for being here today. Thank you to folks listening live with us on Discord. I'm sorry that our schedule has changed, but life happens, and so we're working around it. Thank you to Nick for proof listening today. Thank you to Xander for editing. Thank you again to everyone out there listening, you're fantastic human beings. And until next time. Comics are good, and so are you.