#IReadsYou Review: HOME SICK PILOTS #5

HOME SICK PILOTS #5
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Dan Watters
ART: Caspar Wijngaard
COLORS: Caspar Wijngaard
LETTERS: Aditya Bidikar
DESIGN: Tom Muller
COVER: Caspar Wijngaard
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Tradd Moore
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (April 2021)

Rated “M/Mature”

Home Sick Pilots created by Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard

Home Sick Pilots is a comic book series created by writer Dan Watters and artist Caspar Wijngaard, the creative team of the comic book, Limbo.  Home Sick Pilots focuses on a group of teens and a haunted house with an evil mind of its own.  Letterer Aditya Bidikar and designer Tom Muller complete the series' creative team.

Home Sick Pilots opens in Santa Manos, California, July 18, 1994.  A haunted house known as “the Old James House” walks across California, and inside is Ami, the lead singer of the high school punk band, “Home Sick Pilots.”  Ami has been missing for weeks, so how did she get in the Old James House?  It has ghosts, and Ami has to find them.  But what is the entire story behind Ami, the ghosts, and that house?

As Home Sick Pilots #5 opens, the Old James House turns on Ami, and now, she has to find a way to make a deal with them – all of the ghosts that haunt the hallways.  Elsewhere, Rip discovers that Meg is not dead, and she has some kind of connection to Ami.  It all leads to a Godzilla vs. Kong-type fistfight between a house and monster!

THE LOWDOWN:  At some point in the run-up to the debut of Home Sick Pilots, the series was described as being a blend of author Shirley Jackson's novel, The Haunting of Hill House (1959); the comic book series, Paper Girls, and the Power Rangers franchise.  Home Sick Pilots #5 brings this new series' first story arc, “Teenage Haunts,” to an end.

This fifth issue definitely shows the Power Rangers side of the concept, but influences aside, Home Sick Pilots, is like no comic book I have ever read.  I doubt most American comic book fans have seen anything like it.  If Watters and Wijngaard know of a comic like their amazing creation, I wish they would share its title with us.

Seriously, the crazy thing about Home Sick Pilots is that every issue seems like something brand new, as if it is connected to a main narrative, but also has its own fresh story thing happening.  Dan Watters' script for issue #5 keeps that mysterious, weird, exciting and scary vibe, but gives us an epic, screwy “kaiju” battle and a taste of the good things to come in this series.  Caspar Wijngaard's art and colors create a crazy world of houses that transform and walk and also, everyday structures that merge to form the ultimate mecha-styled monsters.

Aditya Bidikar's lettering is rhythmic in a way that conveys the odd, but alluring nature of this series.  Designer Tom Muller gives the series a look that recalls rock music poster art and concert show flier design to Home Sick Pilots.  Watters and Wijngaard and Bidikar and Muller jam Home Sick's Pilots' first show to an end with a crescendo.  I am highly recommending readers get the upcoming trade collection, Home Sick Pilots Vol. 1: Teenage Haunts, because I'm already anticipating the sixth issue and a new story arc.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of offbeat and imaginative supernatural comic books will want to fly with the Home Sick Pilots.

A+
10 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://twitter.com/DanPGWatters
https://twitter.com/Casparnova
https://twitter.com/adityab
https://twitter.com/hellomuller
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-----------------

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#IReadsYou Review: HOME SICK PILOTS #4

HOME SICK PILOTS #4
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Dan Watters
ART: Caspar Wijngaard
COLORS: Caspar Wijngaard
LETTERS: Aditya Bidikar
DESIGN: Tom Muller
COVER: Caspar Wijngaard
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Jamie McKelvie
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (March 2021)

Rated “M/Mature”

Home Sick Pilots created by Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard

Home Sick Pilots is a comic book series created by writer Dan Watters and artist Caspar Wijngaard, the creative team of the comic book, Limbo.  Home Sick Pilots focuses on a group of teens and a haunted house with an evil mind of its own.  Letterer Aditya Bidikar and designer Tom Muller complete the series' creative team.

Home Sick Pilots opens in Santa Manos, California, July 18, 1994.  A haunted house known as “the old James house” walks across California, and inside is Ami, the lead singer of the high school punk band, “Home Sick Pilots.”  Ami has been missing for weeks, so how did she get in the old James house?  It has ghosts, and Ami has to find them.  But can Ami be found … and helped?

As Home Sick Pilots #4 opens, the Home Sick Pilots are reunited – kind of.  The ghosts and entities are watching Ami's actions ever closer, as she continues to capture the ghosts that must be returned to the old James House.  Who else knows about the ghosts and what can that knowledge gain?

Now, Ami finds herself battling haunted video tape from a possessed video cassette, and it can connect to VHS machines.  Elsewhere, the house armors Buzz and sends him to rescue Ami, but when new entities arrive, Ami understands that whatever honeymoon she has with this house is over.

THE LOWDOWN:  At some point in the run up to the debut of Home Sick Pilots, the series was described as being a blend of author Shirley Jackson's novel, The Haunting of Hill House (1959); the comic book series, Paper Girls, and Power Rangers.  I am not familiar with Paper Girls, but I am familiar with the Jackson novel via the 1963 and 1999 film adaptations, and I have watched some episodes of Power Rangers.

I am starting to see those connections, but I don't want to do a disservice to Home Sick Pilots.  It is both a unique creature and creation.  Dan Watters' script moves between mysterious and weird and exciting and scary, and he always offers something new.  Caspar Wijngaard's art and colors present this constant flow of new imagination in electrifying and sometimes breathless storytelling.

So, I will keep heartily recommending Home Sick Pilots.  Hopefully, dear readers, you won't get left too far behind, although it will be fun playing catch-up.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of offbeat and imaginative supernatural comic books will want to fly with the Home Sick Pilots.

9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://twitter.com/DanPGWatters
https://twitter.com/Casparnova
https://twitter.com/adityab
https://twitter.com/hellomuller
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-------------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).

#IReadsYou review: HOME SICK PILOTS #3

HOME SICK PILOTS NO. 3
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Dan Watters
ART: Caspar Wijngaard
COLORS: Caspar Wijngaard
LETTERS: Aditya Bidikar
DESIGN: Tom Muller
COVER: Caspar Wijngaard
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Paulina Ganucheau; Declan Shalvey
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (February 2021)

Rated “M/Mature”

Home Sick Pilots created by Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard

Home Sick Pilots is a new comic book series created by writer Dan Watters and artist Caspar Wijngaard, the creative team of the comic book, Limbo.  Home Sick Pilots apparently focuses on a group of teens and a haunted house with an evil mind of its own.  Letterer Aditya Bidikar and designer Tom Muller complete the series' creative team.

Home Sick Pilots opens in Santa Manos, California, July 18, 1994.  A haunted house known as “the old James house” walks across California, and inside is Ami, the lead singer of the high school punk band, “Home Sick Pilots.”  Ami has been missing for weeks, so how did she get in the old James house?  It has ghosts, and Ami has to find them.  But can Ami's band mates, Buzz and Rip, find her?

Home Sick Pilots #3 opens in Santa Manos, September 1994.  Buzz is dreaming of Ami, but Ami is searching for ghosts that need to be returned to the old James house.  Meanwhile, Buzz learns that his school and the authorities are looking for their fellow schoolmates who are also the band, “Nuclear Bastards.”  Rip is also considered missing, but Buzz knows that Rip has checked out.  Meanwhile, Ami and Buzz both end up in search mode and discover something … unexpected.

THE LOWDOWN:  After reading the first issue of Home Sick Pilots, I wanted to be careful and not provide spoilers from that debut issue in my review.  After reading the second issue, I thought that I might be able to describe the series without spoiling the story … too much.  With this third issue, dear readers, I just want to do whatever it takes for you to try Home Sick Pilots … which might mean spoilers.

Home Sick Pilots #1 showed that the series had potential, and Home Sick Pilots #2 started delivering on that potential.  Home Sick Pilots #3 throws the proverbial curve ball.  Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard won't settle for merely delivering the unexpected; they want to fry your imagination.

Caspar Wijngaard's art and colors for the first two issues were both haunting and alluring, but this third issue reveals an emphasis on going deeper into story and mythology.  Wijngaard delivers the frights of horror, but also offers the invention of horror rather than its violence.  He and Watters seem to be working as one weird unit of comic book storytelling, and they are pushing the boundaries of the imagination in a way that classic Vertigo Comics did in the 1990s.

So, I will once again heartily recommend Home Sick Pilots.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of offbeat and imaginative supernatural comic books will want to fly with the Home Sick Pilots.

9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://twitter.com/DanPGWatters
https://twitter.com/Casparnova
https://twitter.com/adityab
https://twitter.com/hellomuller
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-------------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).

#IReadsYou review: HOME SICK PILOTS #2

HOME SICK PILOTS #2
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Dan Watters
ART: Caspar Wijngaard
COLORS: Caspar Wijngaard
LETTERS: Aditya Bidikar
DESIGN: Tom Muller
COVER: Caspar Wijngaard
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Christian Ward
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S.(January 2021)

Rated “M/Mature”

Home Sick Pilots created by Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard

Home Sick Pilots is a new comic book series created by writer Dan Watters and artist Caspar Wijngaard, the creative team of the comic book, Limbo.  Home Sick Pilots apparently focuses on a group of teens and a haunted house with an evil mind of its own.  Letterer Aditya Bidikar and designer Tom Muller complete the series' creative team.

Home Sick Pilots opens in Santa Manos, California, July 18, 1994.  A haunted house known as “the old James house” walks across California, and inside is Ami, the lead singer of the high school punk band, “Home Sick Pilots.”  Ami has been missing for weeks, so how did she get in the old James house?  It has ghosts, so what do those ghosts want?  And can Ami's band mates, Buzz and Rip, find her?

Home Sick Pilots #2 opens in Santa Manos, September 1993.  It is Ami's first week there, and she meets Buzz and Rip.  After some goofy confrontation, a band is born.  Moving forward to June 3, 1994:  Buzz and Rip are locked out of the old James house.  Ami is still inside, as are the remains of the members of a rival band, Nuclear Bastards.  The boys look for help, but run into a recent adversary.

Elsewhere (or another time), Ami has new powers and is trying to help the old James house recover its lost ghosts, also known as the horrors that were taken from the old house.  She has found one (or been led to it), a lucky horseshoe.  And despite appearances, the current owner really wants to get rid of the thing, but...

THE LOWDOWN:  After reading the first issue of Home Sick Pilots, I wanted to be careful and not provide spoilers from that debut issue in my review.  After reading this second issue, I think I might be getting close to being able to provide you, dear readers, with an overview of an issue without spoiling … too much.  But I want you to read this new series, so the ends justify the means...

Home Sick Pilots #1 showed that the series had potential, and Home Sick Pilots #2 starts the delivering on that potential.  I found Home Sick Pilots #1 to be a tad bit stronger than other recent debut series from Image Comics, including Rick Remender's The Scumbag and Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw's Crossover.  The second issue is making me think that Home Sick Pilots is the strongest series debut from Image since Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander's Killadelphia debuted in late 2019.

Caspar Wijngaard's art and colors for Home Sick Pilots #2 are both haunting and alluring, as was the case with the first issue.  The graphical storytelling is weird and freaky.  It has a crazy vibe that mixes Steve Ditko's surreal storytelling in Doctor Strange with the craziness of Stephen R. Bissette and John Totleben's weirdest of weird illustrations of Alan Moore's creepiest Swamp Thing stories.

Dan Watters is putting out some imaginative and inventive stuff with this series.  I say stuff because sometimes I wonder if I'm supposed to smoke Home Sick Pilots … for medicinal purposes, of course.  Watters presents some strange and troubling scenes; the entire horseshoe sequence feels uncomfortable, but with some truth to it.  Home Sick Pilots is so fresh and so different that it might really be a dangerous ghost story.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of offbeat and imaginative supernatural comic books will want to fly with the Home Sick Pilots.

9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://twitter.com/DanPGWatters
https://twitter.com/Casparnova
https://twitter.com/adityab
https://twitter.com/hellomuller
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

--------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).

#IReadsYou review: HOME SICK PILOTS #1

HOME SICK PILOTS #1
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Dan Watters
ART: Caspar Wijngaard
COLORS: Caspar Wijngaard
LETTERS: Aditya Bidikar
DESIGN: Tom Muller
COVER: Caspar Wijngaard
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Caspar Wijngaard; Dani
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S.(December 2020)

Rated “M/Mature”

Home Sick Pilots created by Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard

Home Sick Pilots is a new comic book series created by writer Dan Watters and artist Caspar Wijngaard, the creative team of the comic book, Limbo.  Home Sick Pilots apparently focuses on a group of teens and a haunted house with an evil mind of its own.  Letterer Aditya Bidikar and designer Tom Muller complete the series' creative team.

Home Sick Pilots #1 opens in Santa Manos, California, July 18, 1994.  A haunted house known as “the old James house” walks across California, and inside is Ami, the lead singer of the high school punk band, “Home Sick Pilots.”  Ami has been missing for weeks, so how did she get in the old James house.  It has ghosts, so what do those ghosts want?  And can Ami's band mates, Buzz and Rip, find her?

THE LOWDOWN:  I want to be careful and not provide spoilers for the first issue of Home Sick Pilots.  I can say that I find that this first issue suggests Home Sick Pilots has potential.  I will also go on record as saying that Home Sick Pilots #1 is a tad bit stronger than other recent debut series from Image Comics, including Rick Remender's The Scumbag and Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw's Crossover.

Caspar Wijngaard's art and colors for Home Sick Pilots #1 is both haunting and alluring, and his graphical storytelling grabs at me.  I don't think that I have ever read anything written by Dan Watters, but this first issue, which gives out information as much as it teases, makes me want to search out more of his work.  So many first issues now tease and hint, whereas Watters seems to be giving out much, if not most, of the premise in this first issue.

Aditya Bidikar's lettering is solid and hard-hitting, which gives the story power from the first page.  Tom Muller's design splashes cool rather than faux-punk aesthetics, so this book looks good, but has substance.   I certainly want to read the second issue, and I highly recommend you give this first issue a try, dear readers.  It is a new kind of haunted house story at a time when comic books need new kinds of hauntings.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of offbeat and imaginative supernatural comic books will want to fly with the Home Sick Pilots.

8 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://twitter.com/DanPGWatters
https://twitter.com/Casparnova
https://twitter.com/adityab
https://twitter.com/hellomuller
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

--------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).