Written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick,
Rex Ogle, Scott Snyder,
Art by Garry Brown,
Denys Cowan, Dave Johnson
Published by DC Comics
Set in 80s Connecticut, DC Horror Presents: The Conjuring: The Lover #1 takes the gothic horror novel and plants it firmly in the 20th century.
Jessica is a college freshman struggling to adjust to her new academic life. More bluntly, she hates it. Her first semester was awful, and she really wants to take a break to just work for a while.. Mom is firmly opposed to this plan, and Jessica is right back in the place she least wants to be.
To make matters worse, Jessica bumps into a boy she hooked up with last semester twice on her first day back. He’s clearly enthused to see her again, while she feels differently about reconnecting.
She finds refuge–or at least, a semblance of order and routine–in the library and in laundry, planning out what she needs to do to turn her grades around.
In the midst of all of it, she senses that something is following her but can’t point to anything concrete. Maybe it’s just her anxiety about going back to school getting the better of her.
Probably not.
I like my horror with a strong side of suspense, and this delivers. This introduction to the story starts slow, introducing a just handful of characters in addition to Jessica, and giving us just a hint of her life. It’s clear she’s not happy at college, or with Kyle from her first semester. She hungers for something other. What that may or may not be is whispered in a couple of panels and may be partially unknown to Jessica herself.
Beyond that, there’s not much background or context. She could be any discontented freshman at any school. What is it about her that invites danger?
The Conjuring: The Lover comic is a tie-in to the upcoming film, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. I admit only passing familiarity with the franchise, but if it’s anything like this comic (written by the screenwriter of the film), I’m going to have to fix that.
