REVIEW - THE WOODS: YEAR ONE

The Woods is a delightful, terrifying adventure into an entirely original world penned by James Tynion IV and brought to life by Michael Dialynas. It is a miraculous independent feat, possessing the quality I would expect of any major comic title, and then some. The Woods features a diverse cast of fascinating, painfully human characters, and the relationships between them are crafted in an intricate web, which deepens intriguingly with every issue. 

The Woods begins by introducing the main cast going about their daily lives as teenagers and teachers attending and working at Bay Point Preparatory High School in suburban Milwaukee. Even in the first few pages before the catalyst event of The Woods occurs, you are granted a wonderful insight into who the protagonists are and how they interact. Less than halfway through the first volume (so it really is not a spoiler) the whole of Bay Point gets teleported to a totally unknown alien planet. From that point onwards everything is go, go, go. The driving mystery – figuring out where this planet is and why the school was teleported – is complemented by compelling human drama which never deviates into soppiness or a sluggish pace. 

The main protagonists, Maria, Calder, Karen, Sanami, Ben, Adrian and Issac, are united by their relationships and interactions through school, but are also about as different from each other as any group of teenagers who attend the same school can be. The complex ways in which these characters interact with each other is artfully woven and told – everybody has some kind of influence over everyone else’s life, and this main, diverse and interesting cast is complemented by a very solid cast of secondary characters, whose lives and motivations would be just as compelling as any of the protagonists, were they devoted screen-time.

Each character is continuously challenged, ethically, emotionally, physically, and each receives interesting development throughout the issues. Although every issue does a fantastic job of progressing the central plot, the backgrounds of certain characters are ‘highlighted’ in different issues – in a way similar to Joss Whedon’s writing in Firefly. Although episodes are never only about one character, they receive a special focus which helps you understand who they are, and where they came from, deepening your ability to empathise with each character when conflict arises, and leaving you never sure who was right when an ethical dilemma (of which there are many) emerges. Certain issues of The Woods will spotlight one character, but the web which links them is so well written that exploration of one character will inevitably also result in the development of others. Put simply, the storytelling is stellar.

Perhaps the most commendable thing about The Woods is how well it employs the ‘show, don’t tell’ maxim of storytelling. It can be hard to be subtle using comics, the same way that it is hard for movies to be ats subtle as books, purely thanks to the visual nature of the medium, which makes it more difficult to conceal certain information. The Woods manages this subtlety through excellent writing, and a fairly quick pace, which trusts the reader to assume much of what is happening in the world. 

Thematically, The Woods is very engaging. Aside from the main plot, major themes of The Woods include survival, belonging, the difficulties of coming of age, ethics of ‘for the greater good’ style logic – and perhaps most interesting is the way The Woods explores how teenagers are treated in American society. The idea that teenagers are more or less bigger, more troublesome children who still need taking care of (and decisions to be made for them) is a theme which is continuously challenged throughout issues of The Woods.

The Woods doesn’t shy away from death, awkwardness or suffering, sacrificing characters as is logical and realistic in such a harsh environment. In a day and age where, when watching television, you can guess which characters will and won’t survive the season simply because “they are main characters” The Woods’ brutal dedication to portraying things in a more gritty and believable way is both refreshing and highly engaging. Alongside death, The Woods is also bold in its engagement with themes of teenage love, angst and ego. I don’t want to risk spoilers in this category, suffice to say that The Woods did a better job of portraying what it feels like to be a teenage and fall in love for the first time than any film I’ve ever seen.

Complementing the quality of The Woods’ writing, the setting is a fascinating melting point of genres and influences. Part science fiction, part fantasy, part drama, historical fiction, superhero story – you can see evidence of all these in The Woods. This fascinating world is brought beautifully to life by Michael Dialynas. Employing bold, jagged lines and a dark palette full of murky reds and mysterious purples, Dialynas effectively evokes the feeling of a foreboding alien world full of terrifying potential.

It is somewhat obvious that The Woods was both written and drawn by Gen Y-ers. I hate using that term, and yet there seems no better way to explain that The Woods was clearly born of creatives very well-versed in popular culture of the 90s and beyond, and noticeably in touch with technology and the Internet. Although there are, of course, many young comic artists and writers around, The Woods is the first series I have read which feels truly to represent the world, and teenagers, as they are in this day and age. To date, sixteen issues of The Woods have been released, with the first twelve being collected as 'Year One', and the first trade paperback can be purchased here. It's an awesome adventure that you don't want to miss out on.