Wytches Volume 1

by Scott Snyder

[celinenyx]

Wytches is a solid horror. However, it also contains ableism and perpetuates the genre convention of the helpless female that requires saving.

A family moves to a small town. Sail, their daughter, is a teenager with anxiety issues - which worsen by the sensation that something is lurking in the woods. As reader we already know something that our characters still need to find out: the woods do contain monsters from our nightmares, and if they're not careful, they might get eaten.

There are three main characters in the story: Charlie, Lucy, and Sailor. At first I was intrigued by the fact that Lucy, Sail's mother, is disabled and in her portrayal does not seemed to be defined by this. Graphic novels are possibly even worse than novels with regards to diversity, and it was nice to have some small scenes dedicated to make this aspect of her characterisation realistic. Sadly, that little representation that was gained in the beginning is completely undermined at the climax of the story. Ultimately, Lucy sells her own daughter for the wytches to eat so she can walk again. Not only is this presumptuous and ableist, it did not fit in the story at all. Where Charlie has plenty of page-time with Sail, Lucy is little more than a wall-flower as the story progresses.

And that touches on my biggest issue with Wytches. Ultimately, it's a egocentric piece of writing about a father figure. Charlie is the hero - one that is flawed, but redeemed by the end. The graphic novel is about his fears, his interactions with Sail. It is about fatherhood, and then it becomes clear that the women in this comic are only present as foils to him. Even though Sail is present in probably half the pages, we rarely see her thoughts outside of Charlie's lens. She is merely there to be cared for, to be saved. I found it tragic that a character with anxiety issues - something that could be so powerful for people struggling with something similar - had very little growth in this respect and got turned into a damsel in distress, so she could be rescued by her father. I feel like Snyder did attempt some character growth in Sail, but the structure of the story prevents her from becoming an independent character.

Image publishes some truly groundbreaking comics, but I'm afraid Wytches isn't one of them. The panelling is great, the illustrations effective, and the colouring especially is stunning. It is atmospheric, it is creepy - but it is also problematic, and I tired of reading about a father's fears without the daughter's feelings to counterpoint them. The representation of disability in this story (both physical as well as neurological) is atrocious; probably unintentionally.