The Woods.
Written by James Tynion IV, Art by Michael Dialynas and Jason Gonzalez.
Comic Series Review by Kerey McKenna.
Although the young adult survival horror comic, The Woods, has been on my radar since its premiere, I had never gotten around to reading it. But with March’s release of the last installment, I finally downloaded and read the first volume, then the next, and the next, eventually binge reading all 9 of graphic novel trade editions in one weekend. Despite its sometimes disturbing imagery and emotional gut punches, I felt it was a journey that I—like the protagonists—had to complete.
The Woods is the story of Bay Point Preparatory High School in modern day Wisconsin. Unexpectedly, the school building, faculty, staff, and over 400 students are mysteriously teleported to a dense primordial jungle under an alien sky.
The series follows a band of six seniors as they rise to meet the challenge while wrestling with the same internal and interpersonal struggles that defined their lives back on Earth. But now they have to do it while running from lime green alien bears and other monstrosities lurking in the alien jungle.
The six seniors are:
Maria Ramirez: The ambitious (many would say overly ambitions) student body president that saw her position as the first step on the long path to the White House someday. It’s her duty (at least in her own mind) to step up to this new challenge as her fellow students (and some of the adults) are paralyzed with shock and fear. But will her headstrong nature turn off more potential allies and supporters than she can afford?
Sanami Ota: Captain of the field hockey team and daughter of a troubled home. Fortunately her parents are celebrities in the survivalist/doomsday prepper community, so even if they didn’t provide her a stable home life, she is well-instructed in wilderness survival skills.
Karen Jacobs: Sanami’s field hockey teammate and best friend. With her athleticism, grades, good looks and interpersonal skills she could probably do whatever she wants with her life. If only she could figure out what she wants to do.
Calder McCreedy: The school reprobate that was one more grand prank or one more confiscated pocket knife away from expulsion. His devil may care attitude and familiarity with knives could be keys to surviving in the forest, and an A+ paper on the tactics of Hannibal sacking Rome hint that there are hidden depths to this juvenile delinquent.
Benjamin Stone: Speaking of hidden depths, still waters run deep in linebacker Benjamin. The literal big man on campus, this well-liked gentle giant could probably get whatever he wanted in High School life. If only he had the courage to speak up about what his heart’s desire is.
Isaac Andrews: The exuberant, empathetic, and twee Isaac is the heart of the group that will try to make the best out of a rough situation. He adopts an ugly-cute monkey/bat creature from the forest, dubs him “Doctor Robot,” and in turn this strange alien creature becomes the team mascot. Isaac wants to see the good in others, like his best friend and crush...
Adrian Roth: Bespectacled, thin as a rail, book smart, and misanthropic he’s the walking personification of teenagers everywhere who went through a Nietzsche phase. Upon arriving on the mysterious world he feels an uncanny kinship with the place and gathers the others in an audacious plan to strike into the wilderness on their own and find answers to the event and maybe even a way home. But is his daring initiative his own or is this strange place getting into his head?
The Woods is a wonderful campfire tale of survival horror and the trials and travails of children forced to grow up in a harsh world. When I was a young reader, wilderness survival tales like Hatchet, Lord of the Flies, and Island of the Blue Dolphin were the reading of empowered children before teenage rebels against dystopia started a revolution in the genre.
The artwork is excellent. From the expressive faces and body language, the use of color to contrast the earth with the strange neon alien jungle, and the creative creature designs and cohesive action scenes, the art team more than does its job selling this story.
On the writing front the dialogue carries the day with no extraneous narration. The story reminds me of the early seasons of the TV series Lost, and I mean that in the best way possible. It’s about a group forced to band together to survive, a supernatural/possibly sentient setting, frequent flashbacks to slow feed new information about the protagonists’ back stories, and a lot of conflict based around what these people need to change about themselves—and need to retain—in order to survive.
However unlike Lost or The Walking Dead (show and comic) the creators here clearly had a plan in place and never felt the need to pad out the series with filler or repetitive story arcs. Over the course of the series there are new revelations about the nature of the woods, characters join or leave the main group, and there is drastic character growth all around. Each installment is organically built upon the last, advancing the greater plot towards a satisfying conclusion. The creators knew when to wrap things up, end the story, and walk away.
Kerey McKenna is a contributing reviewer to Nerds who Read and SMOF for the annual Watch City Steampunk Festival, coming to Waltham, Massachusetts on May 12, 2018. Check it out at www.watchcityfestival.com.
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