Coffin Hill Vol. 1

by Caitlin Kittredge

• Following a night of sex, drugs, and witchcraft in the woods, Eve Coffin
  wakes up naked, covered in blood and unable to remember how she got there. One
  friend is missing, one is in a mental ward — and one knows that Eve is
  responsible! Years later, Eve returns to Coffin Hill, only to discover the
  darkness that she unleashed ten years ago in the woods was never contained. It
  continues to seep through the town, cursing the soul of this sleepy
  Massachusetts hollow, spilling secrets and enacting its revenge.
• Set against the haunted backdrop of New England, Coffin Hill explores
  what people will do for power and retribution. Noted novelist Caitlin Kittredge,
  author of the Black London series, brings a smart, mesmerizing style to
  comics. Artist Inaki Miranda (FABLES) brings his dynamic storytelling to
  Coffin Hill, following an acclaimed run on Fairest.
• Collects Coffin Hill #1-7.

• ISBN13: 9781401248871
• Publish Date: 27 May 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 25 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: DC Comics
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 168
• Language: English

Reviews

[inlibrisveritas]

I went into Coffin Hill with very few expectations since it’s new to me and I’ve never read anything from this author (did you know she writes YA novels?) however I find that I’m walking away with far less than I’d hoped for.

Coffin Hill has really dynamic art style that stands out and pulls you in and when combined with a story that is dark and strange this should have been a knockout. Honestly I was confused most of the time. I’d find myself getting sucked in and then all of the sudden there would be a random insert of panels that didn’t directly connect to what was happening at that particular moment and some left me wondering if it really happened at all. I did like the story, but the odd placement of ‘flashbacks’ or whatever they were threw me off and I had to re-read a few times to see if I’d missed something.

I never really understood the characters or their motivations either. Eve is a cop…or was until she was shot and now she’s returned to her home town only to find it in a mess. I have SO MANY questions. Why was she’fired/laid off/forcibly retired? She made a full recovery…Why is her eye black (the white of it) and why do only two people seem to notice it? Why does Nate have permanent dark circles under his eyes? I thought it was makeup when he was a teen but it’s still there when he’s an adult. Why is their friendship so crappy and yet somehow worth fighting for? What is the point of arguing if magic exists if literally seconds before something legitimately magical happens? Why would she choose to be a cop after everything in her past?

I really wanted to like this and I think I would have if the story had been a bit more liner and fleshed out. I’m okay with flashbacks, but I’m honestly not even sure if all the cut away scenes were flashbacks. If I had been able to at least ‘get’ the characters that would have made the random inserts tolerable. At this point I’m not sure I’ll be continuing this series.