All throughout July we’re crowdsourcing an Extra Eisners Reading List from comics journalists and critics. Each weekday throughout the month, we’ll post a new pick we would have liked to have seen nominated for an Eisner. There are so many great comics, it’s impossible for the Eisners to recognize them all. This list is to honor and diversify the pool of work praised by the industry.

Today’s pick comes from Jarred A. Luján…enjoy!

Alright, so, you have a Best New Series category...and it didn’t include The Plot. For those who don’t know, The Plot is a horror comic put out by Vault Comics. It was the launch title for their Nightfall line, a line of comics purely for horror. It’s co-written by Michael Moreci and Tim Daniel, with art by Joshua Hixson, colors by Jordan Boyd, and letters by Jim Campbell. It was also one of the only comics I can remember that launched with universal praise...for every issue.

The Plot is far more than just a horror comic. It’s a story about family and, furthermore, a family in a time of crisis. That’s the thing that The Plot has under control right from the beginning: masterful characterizations and authentic-feeling family dynamics. The book is easy to invest to because the characters feel real, but their situations, the tragedy of their coming together, can easily be related to as well.

What Moreci and Daniel understand, more than a lot of horror writers, is that the scary parts of the book work best when we have a genuine investment in the characters going through the experiences. Few things are as investable as seeing a family not only struggle to come together, but to stay together, while also becoming engrossed in a terrifying situation. The maintaining of the family secret, the mystery of what’s occurring, really brings the entire plot together as a reason to keep turning.

And, yes, artist Joshua Hixson and colorist Jordan Boyd are more than capable of carrying their own. The murky atmosphere of the bog mixed with imagery that sometimes nears hallucinogenic gives the comic a unique feeling. Every page feels eerie without the necessity of relying on jump scares, every big scare has an underscore of emotion in our characters, something that brings out a very primal urgency in it. Hixson’s style is the absolute perfect match for this book in a way that cannot be overstated.

The Plot is a phenomenal comic. From top to bottom, you’d struggle to find something to awry. It has an immersive plot, engrossing art, and consistent excellence…making it the best new series of the year. Period. -Jarred A. Luján

Jarred A. Luján makes comics, studies existential philosophy, and listens to hip-hop too loudly. For bad jokes and dog pictures, you can follow him on Twitter. He also writes for Comics Bookcase.

The Plot
Writers: Tim Daniel and Michael Moreci
Artist: Joshua Hixson
Colorist: Jordan Boyd
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $17.99I
n order to receive... first you must give. When Chase Blaine's estranged brother and sister-in-law are murdered, he becomes guardian to MacKenzie and Zach, the niece and nephew he hardly knows. Seeking stability for the children, Chase moves his newly formed family to his ancestral home in Cape Augusta -- which overlooks a deep, black bogland teeming with family secrets.
Release Date: March 4, 2020
Buy It Digitally: The Plot, Vol. 1

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