Scott Snyder has used his Image Comic series Wytches to explore his deepest fears as a writer, father, and husband, combining tense personal drama with grotesque horror as he details the extreme lengths author Charlie Rooks will go to protect his daughter, Sailor. The first arc of the series ends with this week’s Wytches #6, which sees Charlie going to battle with the wytches to save his daughter despite overwhelming odds against him. It’s an issue that delivers significant twists that dramatically change the course of the narrative moving forward, and the creative team ramps up the suspense in the lead-up to these big events.
This preview of Wytches #6 is all about atmosphere and action, showing Charlie and Sailor as they make their way out of the wytches’ den and come face-to-face with a horde of bloodthirsty monstrosities. It highlights the unsettling mood created by artist Jock and colorist Matt Hollingsworth, who embrace a messier aesthetic to reflect the disorder overtaking the Rooks family. The combination of Jock’s scratchy, textured linework and Hollingsworth’s chaotic, speckled coloring makes Wytches look unlike any other horror book on the stands, and embracing ugliness in the visuals has heightened the terror of Snyder’s script. (For more thoughts on Wytches, check out Caitlin Rosberg’s Comics Panel review.)