Boneyard’s Haunted. Leah Williams, David Baldeón, Israel Silva and Joe Caramagna do a spook in X-Factor #8.
Cori McCreery: Hey Andrea, do you like ghost stories?
Andrea Ayres: Hey Cori, I love them.
Eye-Boy Sees Dead People
CM: Alright so first we get a flashback to set the stage, and I absolutely love the idea of Eye-Boy and Amazing Baby being the ones to sense that something is deadly wrong in the Boneyard. And oh boy the creepy vibes we get from Trevor when Rachel finds him. Really sets the tone for the whole issue, doesn’t it?
AA: WENK! Seeing Amazing Baby leap into Eye-Boy’s arms was good stuff. You know, before it all went to shit. The way Baldeón renders the level of disconcertion Eye-Boy feels struck a chord with me. It works quite well to destabilize the viewer and that ghostly green doesn’t hurt either. Overall, it’s been nice to see that form language develop as the series has progressed.
The credits page for Issue Eight contains the phrase “Scio Me Nihil Scire” which translates into: “I know that I know nothing.” Apparently (thanks Google) it is derived from Plato’s account of the Greek philosopher Socrates. Of course, I couldn’t stop there, I had to look up Tritone Substitution as well. According to the website Hello Music Theory, a tritone substitution occurs when you “substitute a dominant 7th chord for another dominant 7th chord that is a tritone away from it.” So, that sums it all up then, right?
CM: Goddess, you’re amazing Andrea. Honestly, I think Baldeón was on top of his game in this issue. Creepy is not something I expected to be in his wheelhouse, because he’s so good at humor, but man I was wrong. Especially that opening panel of Eye-Boy with ALL his eyes wide open, and devoid of irises. That will haunt my dreams. On top of that, we have the jump scare from the embedded data that Prodigy sees. Just a lot of dread built up in the opening.
“Scio Me Nihil Scire – Second Movement” was the title of issue six, so this issue is a play on that. But the important part about tritone substitutions is that while they contain the same notes in important keys, those keys are reversed. So the effect is to give a familiar sound, but also make it feel off. And that’s just what this issue does, it sets up familiar elements, but just so slightly askew that it makes us uncomfortable.
AA: That is exactly what the issue does. Like, I was not a fan of the bit of Daken and Aurora. Daken screaming “I’ll be good” while falling in an endless void? No thank you. Also, nothing gets me like a gaping black maw with pointy teeth *shudder*. Eye-Boy again, crushing me as he begs the unknown entity to come forward. The terror of not being able to see the threat immediately helps to build suspense in a way that surprised me because I knew what was coming. You want so much to yell out, “SOMEONE SAVE HIM.” That’s the kind of psychological torment my favorite forms of horror tend to do well.
What’s Up You Nasty Hag?
CM: And boy is this version of the Morrigan just freaking terrifying. The way that Baldéon and Silva play with the shadows that dance around her are fantastic. And Caramagna’s lettering of her haunting wails is just *chef kiss*. What did you think of the Morrigan’s assault on the Boneyard?
AA: I think Silva’s coloring has grown on me as the series has progressed. Initially, I had some hesitation but I think it does tend to work really well with Baldéon’s more pop-inspired style.
The best way I could possibly describe this iteration of the Morrigan is all-encompassing fear and dread? I mean the line “You made me believe I was worthless” with the retort “I did no such thing! You just actually believe those things yourself!” I think most people’s worst fears tend to be that their deepest-darkest doubt about themselves is actually true? It’s a fairly damn effective narrative tool. What did you think of it?
CM: I think she’s an incredibly effective haunt. A goddess of death permeating through a place called the Boneyard is just rich. And her brutality is just obscene and messy. Leah and David do just such a good jaunt into a horror comic, that it feels like a natural progression. She also manages to kill almost the entire team, which leads us back to the resurrections.
It’s All In The Report
AA: “Welcome back! Boneyard’s haunted!” A real gem of a line. I don’t think I’d ever look as good as these folks do covered in goo. There is so much freaking detail and action-packed into these final ten or so pages. What did you think about the way the team took down the Morrigan?
CM: I liked the way the team worked together, it was very coordinated and a good showcase of everyone’s abilities. And All-Business Lorna sure does something for me. She’s not happy about the way that the Morrigan used her, and boy does she let loose. The way that Baldéon and Silva play with color during the final encounter is also beautiful, with dancing reds and greens intermingling with the death goddess’s shadows. Especially the full page spread of Rachel and Lorna, just absolutely gorgeous. However, I don’t really think this is over, not yet. It felt a little too easy, and if it is over, I feel like it would be a bit anticlimactic, don’t you?
AA: It’s just absolutely delicious. I love the way Rachel and Lorna’s powers are rendered. They are each at the peak of their ability and it comes to bear here. I think what I appreciate deeply with X-Factor is the way everyone has had their moment and time to shine. It doesn’t feel like any one’s story in particular, they are all truly a team and I just don’t want to gloss over how difficult that is to balance narratively and visually. Those few pages near the end are visceral in their physicality. As you said, there’s NO way I believe for a second this is over. I have too many questions. My final note? I wish I had the raw power to deliver one-word email responses like Northstar.
CM: No.
X-Trenuous Thoughts
- Standard disclaimer that Leah supports the CXF Patreon and is a friend of Cori and EiC Zack Jenkins, regardless of how many pictures of Trucknutz, but for Crocs they send each other. We think we are objective and Andrea has permission to attack us if we aren’t.
- Sumptuous outfits there.
- Cori now owns two pages from this X-Factor run, the hair-of-the-dog Lorna page from issue #1 and the bad decisions Lorna from issue #6.
- Krakoan Reads: MONSTRESS OF DEATH BEGONE
