The Addams Family: The Body Issue
Zöe Quinn (Author) • Philip Murphy (Pencils) • Philip Murphy & Maria Keane (Inks) • Valentina Pinto (Colors) • Christa Miesner (Letters and Design) • IDW (Publisher)
Reviewed By A.S. MacKenzie
I don’t care who you are in the horror community. You could be the biggest fan ever of Jason, Freddy, and Michael. Wish there were actual cenobites at your door. Always listening intently for the howl of your shape-shifting favorites. I don’t care who you are…you love the Addams Family.
They are not dark, graphic, bloody, or scary but they are horror, through and through.
In this newest comic iteration of the “creepy kooky” family we see the new animation style they are going for in their upcoming movie (to which I am deathly excited about). Some have complained about this styling, but if they were real horror aficionados, they’d know this was closest to the original Addams comic designs from their inception in 1938 by their esteemed creator, Charles Addams. It’s canon so pipe down.
This single run issue is full of everything we’ve grown to love about this family ripped out of the pages of every horror classic. It opens on Pugsley and Wednesday playing with their guillotine which keeps breaking instead of chopping Pugsley’s head off. Much to his disappointment. This causes Wednesday to make her way through the family trying to find the next, new thing to bring about the most misery. Morticia attempts to console her daughter by asking, “Can I kiss it and make it all worse?” To which Wednesday replies, “I’m not a child, mother. I can ruin things all by myself.” It is the interactions, quips, and situations like this that bring me the most joy. All the things we love about horror; the misery, fear, pain, whatever, are just props to use to show an incredibly loving family. We’re endeared by their poisonous forest or the asbestos Gomez is proud of or even the arm their butler Lurch loses and doesn’t even notice. It’s wonderful, awful, and amazing.
Wednesday does eventually find the thing that makes this reader’s blood run cold. She stumbles across a magazine so devoid of empathy and caring that the mere observance of its pages brings about misery. It is, of course, a popular teen beat magazine. She takes the pages to heart and starts implementing changes from it all over the house, bringing abject misery to all inside.
If there is some chance you are not an Addams Family fan (get thee out of my sight), you owe it to yourself to get this issue. It’s everything that to love about them wrapped up in outstanding visuals and solid writing. Then, after you finish reading the comics, go watch the movies and the old TV shows. We will be waiting over here with open arms, headless dolls, disembodied hands, writhing dinner plates, and a family ready to accept you no matter what.
The Addams Family – The Body Issue
While searching the Addams library for the creepiest grimoire, Wednesday Addams discovers a mysterious tome that promises true empowerment to the young woman who wields it. Wednesday decides to complete the dark rituals hidden within this Eleventeen magazine – and achieve ultimate power.
You can buy The Addams Family – The Body Issue from IDW Publishing
A. S. MacKenzie
A. S. MacKenzie is an Atlanta based author who loves all things books, movies, games, and comics. He lives with his wife, spoiled dogs, and an unhealthy obsession with building things. He can be found building worlds in books, building plastic models, or building with wood. Check out his website at asmackenzie.com for ways to join his newsletter and read free stories. Also, he’s been known to frequent Twitter (@a_s_mackenzie) to say something vaguely interesting and Instagram (a.s.mackenzie) for food, travel, and random pics.
Ice Where There Was None
A block of ice in a Florida park. A victim posed inside.
The first officers on the scene struggle to maintain the melting evidence.
Then it happens again.
…and again….and again…
While the officers wonder why they are always the first on scene, their department begins to wonder the same.
You can claim a copy of Ice Where There Was None via A.S. MacKenzie’s library
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