The series laid dormant for a while until it was rebooted for a brief run around the turn of the millennium under the Vertigo imprint.
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The Witching Hour #1 |
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The Witching Hour #1 - 1999 |
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The Witching Hour - 2013 |
The first story of the anthology is "Daniel" by newcomer Steve Beach. It stars a triplet set of child witches who are the closest we get to our horror hosts of yore. The girls are saved from bullies by the eponymous older, gay gentleman, Daniel, and decide to suitably reward him. It's well-told and heartfelt. The art is better than decent; though, I got some R Crumb vibes from it at time that did not quite fit with the story.
The second queer-interest tale is "This Witch's Work" by Annie Mok, a trans creator I believe is new to print comics, and Joe Shuster Award-winning webcomic creator Emily Carroll. The duo wrote the piece together and Carroll (who has some truly haunting but beautiful comics at her site) did the artwork.
It is likely the darkest story in the anthology, in part because it is so real. Reina (named for activist Reina Gossett, who works at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project) is faced not by the supernatural or abstract terrors, but by the ghosts of her past. Were it not for the high note at its end, I would say it was too dark. Instead, it becomes a strongly empowering piece of art. Definite trigger warnings, though.
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Favorite frame of the whole issue |
The Witching Hour is overall a fun tribute and expansion of the original. The fact that it is decidedly queer only helps. Pick it up at your local comic book shop today!
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