The Woods by James Tynion IVThe Woods (Volumes 1-9) by James Tynion IV is a science fiction coming-of-age story that tells a wonderfully bizarre tale across thirty-six issues (four issues per volume). A school in our world gets transported to another planet or dimension, we’re not sure which. We also do not know who is behind this event or what their reasons are. This comic book series is as much an adventure story as it is coming-of-age, and even though adults — teachers and administration — get transported along with the kids, it is a group of high school students who take the lead, venturing away from the seeming safety of the school out into the unknown of The Woods.

At first, the adults try to take charge, and the initial conflict is between adults and students, but as our main group heads out into the woods, escaping from adult supervision, we get to watch over a period of a few years as these teenagers grow into young men and women, battling both real monsters in the Woods and the internal demons of self-doubt, guilt, and other normal teenage emotional concerns. Their loves and hates become life-and-death issues in a hostile world, and one’s brother, who may simply be a jerk back home, has the potential to turn into a dangerous psychopath in this new world, where the smallest teen problems become matters of life-and-death.

The otherworldly — portrayed vividly by the art — is seen in the wide range of monsters and strange beings throughout the course of the series. But there are also other human beings that are there before them. Why are they there? How did they arrive before our current group? What is their society like? Why do they dress the way they do? Which beasts and creatures have they trained, and which creatures remain wild and dangerous? And what secrets are they keeping from our newly transported group from the school? Why won’t they speak of certain matters, especially about other human beings who have not joined their community, those who have remained out in the woods? All these mysteries are answered in this adventure on a grand scale.

This series, winner of a 2017 GLAAD award, deals with sexuality and is not for an audience not ready for those issues; however, I like the way it deals with both hetero- and homo-sexual love interests, showing both as natural. Some of the kids are very forward with their sexuality, and others are afraid of letting their feelings for others emerge. In other words, it portrays these themes with realism, and it’s hard not to feel empathy for the everyday struggles these teens deal with as they try to figure out what love means to them, particularly when trying to stay alive seems to have more immediacy.

I am so glad that I didn’t start reading this series until it was complete, because I would have been extremely frustrated with all the cliff-hangers; however, this is a testament to how good the storytelling is. I simply could not stop turning pages, and I read it in only a few sittings in less than forty-eight hours. I have rarely done that with a comic book series, so obviously I recommend highly The Woods.

Published in 2014. None of that matters any more… On October 16, 2013, 437 students, 52 teachers, and 24 additional staff from Bay Point Preparatory High School in suburban Milwaukee, WI vanished without a trace. Countless light years away, far outside the bounds of the charted universe, 513 people find themselves in the middle of an ancient, primordial wilderness. Where are they? Why are they there? The answers will prove stranger than anyone could possibly imagine. As fans of James Tynion IV’s work in the Batman universe (BATMAN ETERNAL, RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS), we were eager to publish his first original comic series. Plus, THE WOODS gives us that same eerie, small-town horror feel we get whenever we read a Stephen King novel. If you’re fan of teen conspiracy comics like MORNING GLORIES, SHELTERED, and REVIVAL, you’ll immediately be sucked into THE WOODS.

Author

  • Brad Hawley

    BRAD HAWLEY, who's been with us since April 2012, earned his PhD in English from the University of Oregon with areas of specialty in the ethics of literature and rhetoric. Since 1993, he has taught courses on The Beat Generation, 20th-Century Poetry, 20th-Century British Novel, Introduction to Literature, Shakespeare, and Public Speaking, as well as various survey courses in British, American, and World Literature. He currently teaches Crime Fiction, Comics, and academic writing at Oxford College of Emory University where his wife, Dr. Adriane Ivey, also teaches English. They live with their two young children outside of Atlanta, Georgia.

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