Proctor Valley Road #2

Proctor Valley Road #2

BOOM! Studios 2021

Written by Grant Morrison & Alex Child

Illustrated by Naomi Franquiz

Coloured by Tamra Bonvillain

Lettered by Jim Campbell

* August, Rylee, Cora & Jennie are the prime suspects in the disappearance of the missing boys, but the authorities have no idea what monsters roam the Proctor Valley Road.

* As the town -- and even their families -- closes in on the girls, August makes a choice to visit that haunted road one last time.

* And even if she survives, an even greater threat may have its eyes on these four friends...

This is a fun little book! The girls are very interesting characters and to see them smoking and trying to be cool amongst themselves while escaping from homes where they feel underappreciated and dare I say cast offs because girls are girls and good for marrying off. That mind you is not my opinion but it is the vibe i get from the story thus far. The opening here is fantastic and if that isn’t some sort of violation of their rights than I don’t know what is. That they were able to keep their cool and not let that sill routine rattle them is impressive.

I love the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented extremely well. How we see this unfold for us and how this gives us what we need to see for now and I like how this is done. The character development we see is phenomenal and the girls really have this distinct personalities and yet separately they are different than when together and it’s an interesting dynamic. The pacing is superb and as it take us through the pages revealing more and more of the story things really become more complex and it’s this aspect that keeps us guessing and coming back for more.

I like how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, change and evolve while new ones join them. The complexity of storytelling that we see here is delightful and the changes that come unexpectedly are even better. Then there’s how we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is exceptional stuff.

There is something about dichotomy of having this kind of story with all-ages artwork it creates this magical quality to the storytelling. The linework is great and with the varying weights which are being utilised to create the detail work is really rather beautifully done. There are some real wow moments here and the “tattoos” are one of them. How we see backgrounds throughout the book not only enhance the moments but bring us depth perception, a sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the book are marvellously rendered. How we see the utilisation of the page layouts and the angles and perspective within the panels show a stellar eye for storytelling. The colour work is nicely done as well. I am not only impressed with the colour choices but with the colour blocking that we see in having them laid down and using the various hues and tones within the colours to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is extraordinary.

​

Sometimes the best books come from the least likely places and a book by Grant and Alex about a group of teenage girls who may or may not be considered hooligans fits that bill to a “T.” This is a lot more fun than you’d ever think it could possibly be while maintaining that creepy edge to it that fits into the whole horror genre universe.