RAD WRAITH #1, from Scout Comics on March 16th, 2022, treats readers to a tale of undead vengeance when a malicious skateboarding prank goes horribly wrong.
The Details
- Written By: Tristan Gallagher
- Art By: Christian DiBari
- Colors By: Simon Gough
- Letters By: Christian DiBari
- Cover Art By: Christian DiBari
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: March 16, 2022
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Was It Good?
Sometimes it’s good to let a horror comic thrill you and make you laugh out loud at the same time. RAD WRAITH #1 is just such a comic for its unabashed take on supernatural revenge horror with just a sprinkle of intentional silliness.
Hold on to your reference hats because this one’s a doozy. Blend The Wraith with Poltergeist, add a pinch of The Return of the Living Dead, and toss in a generous helping of Thrashin’. If that doesn’t spin your brain with an Ollie, nothing will.
The tone of this first issue is mostly played straight as Gallagher establishes a High School world where the scrappy underdog shows some courage, the bullies are sufficiently evil, and the family drama is never-ending. What sends this issue over the top is the ludicrous prank, how the players all take the hazing ritual seriously, the gory outcome, and the eagerly anticipated promise of comeuppance for the bullies. All the ingredients are present to live out the adolescent revenge power fantasy against bullies, and you can’t help but want to see it happen.
The art by DiBari and Gough is generally good. We’re accustomed to DiBari’s scratchy pencils/inks and it suits the Black Caravan style of horror well. What pumps up the volume on the art is Gough’s excellent colors and color shading. It’s not stupendous art, but it’s good art that suits the material.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with young Grom, a smallish kid in High School who loves skateboarding. When he crosses paths with a local bully gang of older skateboarders, he’s given a choice – take a midnight run on the old halfpipe built over an old “Indian” (Native American) skatepark behind the local cemetery or get wrecked. Grom chooses Option A.
At midnight, Grom shows up but tries to back out. Mongo, the gang leader, forces Grom down the half pipe. The results are gory and deadly, or so the gang thinks.
The next morning, Grom wakes up in his room, and his parents are none too pleased with all the mud he tracked through the house. We conclude the issue with horrific visions, terrifying memories, and revenge.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
RAD WRAITH #1 is a heck of a lot of fun as a horror/skateboard genre mashup. The story is a deadly serious bully revenge tale with a few moments of intentional silliness that made us laugh out loud. The art is very good and made better with excellent coloring.
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