Image Comics latest creative super duo of Scott Snyder and Jock brings us Wytches #1, a uniquely dark and twisted spin on familiar supernatural entity. But is this the beginnings of a spellbinding series or will it simply cause the readers to hop on a broomstick and fly away?

Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Jock(art), Matt Hollingsworth(colours), Clem Robins(Letters)
Price: £1.99/$2.99 from the Image Comics Store or ComiXology

Wytches #1 tells the story of Sailor Rooks, a shy, timid, introverted teenage girl as she heads to her first day at a new school since moving with her parents in order to escape rumours of her connection to the disappearance of another girl named Annie. However, what haunts Sail isn’t the rumours but what actually happened to Annie; that she was taken by the evil lurking in trees of the forest. Of course, things get more terrifying for Sail when a monstrous looking Annie then appears at her window and a scream is heard by her parents….

Wytches is certainly a title that plays its cards close to its chest in this initial offering, only giving up information and backstory when it is entirely necessary to the story. While this certainly could be considered frustrating at times, here it helps to create a very atmospheric and engrossing read. Scott Snyder, continues the dark and sinister themes we have seen in Batman and the American Vampire  with a sharp script and empathetic characters who keep you hooked all the way until the cliffhanger ending which will ultimately make you want more as soon as possible.

Jock’s art is incredibly crisp with so much detail on the characters features and has evolved smartly from his previous works to truly compliment the dynamic of the story – especially with the use of more distressed panels. Meanwhile, Hollingsworth’s colours only add to the spooky look and feel of the book with colours which enhance the mood of the darker elements of the story giving every panel a fittingly supernatural look and feel.

With such high profile names on board, the hype for this first issue has inevitably been stratospheric, however the team of Snyder, Jock and Hollingswirth have more than lived up to the pre-issue hype, creating a really dark and sinister book that deserves continued attention. Mixing elements of The Evil Dead, early Stephen King and The Blair Witch Project with it’s mix of gruesome horror and sinister tree-like terror Wytches is much more than just another book about pointy hags on broomsticks.

“Snyder and Jock’s dark and twisted first issue more than lives up to the hype as they deliver a fantastic premise which gives the reader just enough of a hint of what’s to come that it will give you the requisite nightmares, but will still make you want to come back and find out more.”