The Closet #1
- Writer
- James Tynion IV
- Artist
- Gavin Fullerton
- Letterer
- Tom Napolitano
- Cover Artist
- Gavin Fullerton, Chris O'Halloran
- Publisher
- Image Comics
- Price
- $3.99
- Release Date
- 2022-06-01
- Colorist
- Chris O'Halloran
The world is full of gruesome, tangible horrors, but sometimes the dark of night can be equally terrifying. While adults may brush off such notions using logic, children's imaginations run amock, and even the shadows from underneath their beds can be truly horrifying. Image Comics presents a tale about a dysfunctional family that unknowingly harbors an insidious nightmare that haunts their child in his sleep. Written by James Tynion IV with artwork from Gavin Fullerton and Chris O'Halloran and letters by Tom Napolitano, The Closet #1 brings past horrors into the light.
The Closet #1 tells the story of a family as they move to the other end of the country, to Portland. Thom and Maggie pack their belongings in boxes long into the night before their cross-country trip. The couple finds it hard to work together, constantly arguing and bickering. Thom takes a breather at a bar to get away from the tense night. He comes home drunk to find an angry wife and a scared son waiting for him. Young Jamie is afraid of his closet because he thinks there is something hiding inside. But the young family has no idea just how bad the shadowy figure's intentions really are.
Slowly but surely, The Closet #1 parts the doors to the story, laying out the background for the audience through a flurry of exposition in a quiet, controlled environment. As the issue progresses, it portrays the characters in earnest to show how broken the individuals are deep down. Writer James Tynion IV uses these character flaws to create a melancholic narrative that brings out the harsh truth about relationships at their most vulnerable. The Closet #1 meanders through an initial phase of dry storytelling without much story progression. But, as the issue steps into the final few pages, the horror element strikes from the dark, leaving a shocking aftertaste.
Like the confines of an enclosed closet, Fullerton's artwork deliberately creates a claustrophobic atmosphere to drive the feelings of inescapable existence home. His work exudes a minimalistic aesthetic with long shadows and bold inking shrouding the panels. This allows him to capture a wide range of emotions and to focus on the characters' eyes to communicate morose looks and expressions of boundless terror. Even amongst the bleak visuals, colorist Chris O'Halloran uses vivid color gradients to light up the space around the characters. As Thom and his family go through the ups and downs of life, so do the colors in the book, bringing every emotion and mood to the surface.
The Closet #1 takes a long time to reach the turning point in the tale, but the slow descent makes it interesting. By his own admission, Thom has become desensitized to his surroundings, too numb to care, while Maggie cares too much about the smallest of things. In their spat, they ignore Jamie, leaving him all alone in the dark where sinister forces prey on him. While using horror to explore the dysfunctionality of a typical family is an intriguing concept, The Closet #1 is a familiar tale that ends its debut issue on a rather cliched cliffhanger, in spite of its intriguing characters and compelling artwork.
