By T.W. Worn — It is 10 PM, and there is a shirtless man drenched in sweat and homemade tattoos. Your face collides with his chest, your now slick cheek sliding against him. The violent blast of drums fills the basement you are in. The smell of blood, sweat, and booze fills your nostrils as you pivot downward to make contact with the floor. You hit the ground, hard, and adrenaline shoots throughout your body, but six pairs of arms reach for you and pull you back up. Multiple people check on you, making sure you are OK. The moment they confirm, they shove you back into a swarm of a dozen angst-filled teens. This is the third band on the bill, and four more are scheduled for the night.

It is 10 PM and you are alone in your home. You hear a loud clang in your kitchen. Upon entering, you see a pot has been pulled from a cupboard and is now sitting face-up on the floor. Confused, you pick it up and place it back into its spot on a shelf. You think about how this has happened every Wednesday since you moved in, and adrenaline shoots throughout your body, but you try to remind yourself ghosts aren't real. You distract yourself by watching television, but you feel like you're being watched by someone. It is going to be a long six months, because that's when your lease is up.

It is 10 PM, and Dan Watters' (Deep Roots, Coffin Bound) new comic, Home Sick Pilots #1, sits on your bed. You flip through the pages, reminding yourself of the punk rock, teenage bottle rocket of a life you used to live. You weren't afraid of anything. Now you try to ignore what is most obviously a ghost in your apartment because confrontation of any sorts worries you. Both of these play out in the comic, and maybe it is trying to tell you something. You reflect on some of the childish antics you were known for, and look back into the kitchen. You used to be fearless. You think about how Watters captures the world you lived in perfectly. The punk scene was the punk scene. It was rough and tumble out there. Now you're afraid of ghosts.

It is 10 PM, and another clang happens. You try to lose yourself in the art of Caspar Wijngaard. The colors of sunsets tone the pages as you think about the last time you went to a punk show. The pages reflect the derelict venues you grew up in. Abandoned houses, backyards, parking lots. The cooling pinks and purples pull you out of your situation, no longer worrying about the pot that must now be sitting on the floor. The panel layout begins to become disorienting, and you slip back into reality. The horrors of a haunted house fill the following pages, and now you can't escape your ghost. You are hit with the reality of the situation. Your apartment isn't haunted; the pot is. The words in your head are as clean and clear as the lettering done by Aditya Bidikar. You need to set the pot free.

You walk into the kitchen to see it waiting for you. The large metal pot you grabbed at a stoop sale before moving in. It didn't belong to you, and it knows that. You grab it and head outside. Placing it on the sidewalk, you apologize for not listening to it sooner and allow it to leave. Turning around, you exhale in relief. It should be over now, you think. It is done. You head back into your apartment. Upon entering, you freeze. All of your dishes are sitting on the floor of your kitchen.

Overall: Home Sick Pilots #1 is the perfect blend of punk and horror. It sticks true to the voice of both areas of subject matter, and I am excited to see where it takes us. 9/10

REVIEW: Home Sick Pilots #1

Home Sick Pilots #1
Writer: Dan Watters
Artist: Caspar Wijngaard
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
The team behind LIMBO, DAN WATTERS (Lucifer, COFFIN BOUND) and CASPAR WIJNGAARD (Star Wars, Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt), launch a brand-new ONGOING SERIES.
In the summer of 1994, a haunted house walks across California. Inside is Ami, lead singer of a high school punk band—who’s been missing for weeks. How did she get there, and what do these ghosts want? Expect three-chord songs and big bloody action that’s Power Rangers meets The Shining (yes, really).
Release Date: December 9, 2020
Buy It Here: Home Sick Pilots #1

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