The Silver Coin #2

The Silver Coin #2

Image Comics 2021

Written by Kelly Thompson

Illustrated & Lettered by Michael Walsh

In 1993, classic mean girls bully a misfit teen at an idyllic summer camp. When the teen reclaims her power after a violent encounter with The Silver Coin, what follows is the stuff of horror movie legend.

This was an absolutely fantastic issue! I am always weary of an anthology series but to see this being done this way as single issues that are stand alone stories is so much nicer than multiple stories in one issue. I am uber impressed that a complete story within the theme of the book is able to be told this exceptionally well. You get the entire gist of classic 80’s horror film in one issue and you don’t feel like anything is being left out or glossed over. Every single thing we see here is purposeful and is utilised in the right way to make the reader gasp at the right moments and not even feel remotely bad for the characters who don’t survive the cut. I did do that on purpose.

I love, love, love the way that this is being told because I am a huge horror fan and this one checks off all the boxes. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exquisitely well. The character development is utterly amazing and the dialogue, which the lettering is essential to really getting the feeling of what’s being said, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter really do help us see them as real kids. The pacing here is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists & turns along the way we’re treated to a true horror delight.

I am so appreciative of how this is being structured and how the layers within the story play such important roles. From the opening which sets the stage for the story and then realising this is about a girl who goes to camp and is sad its so wholesome to the ending this is a completely unexpected journey. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is greatly achieved.

I digging the interiors here a heck of a lot. The linework is sensational and I love how this whole look, tone and feel reminds me of the old school horror titles. That we see backgrounds being utilised as we do to really set the tone for the story and how they work within the composition of the panels bringing us depth perception, a sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the book is marvellously done. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a remarkable eye for storytelling. The colour work is inspired. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work even with dark colours shows someone who understands how colour actually works.

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This is probably one of the best one shots dealing with theme that I’ve ever read. It has everything you could possibly want to see and the whole mean girls turned into what I see as an 80’s horror flick is one of the best premises ever! There’s a reason this sells out, if it already hasn’t than it should so go out and get a copy, and it is because these creators are pulling out all the stops to really creep the pants of the readers.