It’s never easy fitting in for Kat.
Creative Staff:
Story: Daniel Kraus
Art: Chris Shehan
Colors: Jason Wordie
Letterer: Jim Campbell
What They Say:
A drunken bender lands Kat in front of a wise and handsome tattoo removal specialist, yet she’s drawn back to eerie Comfort Notch, where a trove of old photos reveal the figure behind the town’s ominous legends.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Autumnal has set a very distinct tone about it and I really enjoy the way that Daniel Kraus is building bit by bit that slow and creeping disturbing element about it. Everything within Comfort Notch is just a hair off and for someone like Kat, well, it just gets under her skin like crazy. That Sybil seems to take to it makes it even more maddening. This is all really well-presented thanks to Chris Shehan as his designs for the characters really shows so much great emotion in such small ways and just the look and movement of everything adds to it. Jason Wordie is delivering one of the best coloring jobs of their career here as well, I think, as there’s just something utterly haunting about the choices and how it takes Shehan’s artwork and takes it to the next level.
For Kat, she’s doing her best to fit into things here and we see that in a really nicely done montage sequence. She’s got Sybil in school and getting situated with things while she goes and does the hard work of getting things set up with the residence, interacting with people in town, donating to charity even, and especially sticking to keeping the lawn clean. All of it is important bits of show, in a way, even for herself so that she feels like she’s adulting at a time when Sybil really needs it. But she also has to take some time to be who she really is, which is why she books it out of town for a bit and ends up in Portland, Maine for a while looking for “her people” and place. A bad pub is the start of it and it’s amusing to watch her navigate there, especially with the stupid things that people say without realizing what it really means.
I do like that Kat basically has a breakdown while out and about and that it happens at a tattoo shop where she’s trying to get rid of the Rich on the back of her neck. She essentially just loses it along the way and everything comes out, giving the proprietor a chance to be a good person and start helping her out, which he does. It’s a wonderful moment of humanity and one of the perks of running a small business. But, for Kat, this is the positive side so there has to be a flip side, which comes from spending time with Sybil and seeing her disturbing artwork that involves the leaf lady in the woods. Which in turn leads to looking through photographs of her father’s that her mother collected, which takes us into dark and territory hinting at more bad things to come. The layering of the evil that permeates the town is really nicely done and each new tidbit just reinforces it as something old and deeply rooted.
In Summary:
The Autumnal continues to build its foundation well with the town and the unnerving aspects to it that are just everywhere. There’s a lot to like with these elements and seeing them come up in different places, real and imagined, while Kat struggles to find a place to be. I really liked seeing Kat get away from the town and allowing her to have a moment to unload while reminding us that she’s trying to find a place where she can be herself as well. It’s continuing to explore some interesting horror and darkness that’s building slowly and I’m completely on board for it at this point to see where it’s going to go.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Vault Comics | Amazon | ComiXology
Release Date: November 25th, 2020
MSRP: $3.99
