A Quiet Place: Storm Warning #1

Since debuting in 2018, the A Quiet Place franchise has built its identity around tense familial melodrama set against a creature-feature backdrop that feels equal parts George Romero and Steven Spielberg. It now expands into the comic book medium with A Quiet Place: Storm Warning #1, a natural fit for a story driven by atmosphere and visual tension. While the opening chapter is somewhat restrained in its dread, it succeeds in establishing imperfect, compelling characters you can’t help but root for.

Although the series continues to lean heavily on family dynamics as the source of its emotional conflict, Phil Hester and Ryan Kelly broaden that scope to show how those tensions ripple outward across an entire community living under constant threat. Pearl, Iowa, is an island town on the Mississippi River, boxed in by both water and monsters. In this setting, the pressure of making the right political decisions for the greater good becomes just as important as the characters’ personal relationships with one another.

The setup is ripe for deeper emotional exploration, but in its rush to establish these dynamics, the first issue sacrifices some of the slow-building catastrophe and creeping dread that would strengthen its hook. Ryan Kelly’s pencils excel at grounded action and expressive character moments, yet the overall tone leans surprisingly grand in places, which undercuts the intimacy the story initially strives for. Still, any disappointment in the horror is largely offset by several ongoing character threads that make what comes next genuinely intriguing.

Where the issue truly shines is in its use of silence as a storytelling tool. With creatures that hunt by sound, the world of A Quiet Place naturally lends itself to wordless tension, and the creative team leans into this when appropriate These dialogue-free sequences explore the uneasy balance between individual survival and collective responsibility, introducing fresh narrative angles that help distinguish the comic from the films. In these moments, the visual storytelling is at its strongest, conveying emotion, danger, and consequence without a single word.