Spectregraph #1: Is It Just a House?

Spectregraph #1 is DSTLRY’s newest title from a new all star creative team. Anyone familiar with DSTLRY’s mission statement will know that this is a prestige format series that looks to push the boundaries of art and storytelling beyond what has been done in this medium before. This series follows Jane, a down on her luck real estate agent who is looking to score big on the sale of a very unique and mysterious property. The property itself is where the series gets its name, as the narrative quickly identifies that Jane is about to enter the world of the occult. Spectregraph is definitely a series that you don’t want to sleep on.

Known for his insanely popular horror/mystery books like Nice House On The Lake and Something is Killing The Children, writer James Tynion IV always is able to bring new fans into this genre through excellent character work and immaculate pacing. Artist Christian Ward brings a similar sensibility to his works, such as Batman: City of Madness and Black Bolt, where his dramatic use of color and panel structure brought something brand new to characters that are older than most of their readers. Together, these two creators bring these sensibilities to life within Spectregraph #1, weaving a tale that feels wholly unique and genre breaking.

The most unique thing about Spectregraph #1 is that Tynion seems less worried about big splashy payoffs, choosing to focus on the characters, the world, and the tone. Too often, horror and mystery tales are long winded buildups to a quick reveal that often leaves audiences disappointed. Despite the fact that Tynion is known for always building up to satisfying payoffs, he is also know for his amazing character work. Spectregraph #1 really shows how well Tynion has perfected this craft, displaying how seamless he is able to display everything you need to know about a character in two pages. This makes the narrative move at a swift pace while also making this a world that audiences thrive to explore further, rather than just seeing at as a vehicle to get to that payoff.

While other characters are introduced in this introductory issue, Jane is clearly identified as the main protagonist. Tynion does an excellent job showing that a protagonist is not always an evergreen individual. From the get go, Spectregraph #1 shows Jane as a deeply flawed person, with Tynion and Ward wasting no time in displaying her faults over the course of just a couple pages. This is the kind of storytelling that makes readers come back to creators, with audiences being able to trust that Tynion and Ward are going to come up with something unique that breaks the normal.

Fans of Ward’s work will know that Spectregraph #1 is only a stepping stone into the craziness that is to come. Despite this only being the first entry, it’s clear that Ward’s style fits this world perfectly. There is one page in particular, simply featuring two characters walking down a hallway that easily identifies how unique and inspiring Ward’s style can be. You can probably imagine a hundred ways that this idea can be conveyed and still not land on the way that Ward approaches this page. This uniqueness is as beautiful as it is emblematic of the kind of story that these creators are setting out to tell.

A facet of Ward’s work that really stands out here is his use of color. Sometimes this means that a page is full of bright colors and is very vibrant and deliberate in the way a piece of dialogue is being conveyed. But other times a super dark page has one or two full color, full brightness elements that quickly draw the reader to where to look next. This style really helps readers follow along when things start going off the wire, while also creating that sense of depth and nuance that is often not felt when reading a comic.