Written by Justin Benson, Aaron Morehead, Kate Herron,
Briony Redman, Jill Blotevogel, Leon Hendrix III
Art by Giovanna Niro, Greg Hinkle, Leila Leiz,
Marley Zarcone, Eric Zawadzki
Published by Skybound/Image Comics
When I was a kid, every so often the ABC network would present a program called After School Specials. The series ran from 1972 to 1977, and each special episode tackled controversial and socially relevant issues aimed at teenagers.
Skybound takes the concept of the afterschool special and brings it into the modern age with a health heaping of horror. “Morals have eroded. Your kids are out of control. Skybound’s new horror anthology will teach those teens a lesson.”
Afterschool is an anthology series in which each story tackles a teenage issue; peer pressure, teen pregnancy, sibling rivalry, and anxiety.
For the most part, the stories are fun.
The fear-driven “Spineless.” The terrifying “Sympathetic Ear” and the haunting “The Club.” For me, the only misfire of the bunch was “The Storkening,” which tackled teen pregnancy, abortion, and a women’s right to choose. That individual story came across more as feminist posturing than a horror story, so for that reason, the story was a misfire for me.
Afterschool is competent at what it does but is more typical in what it does.
If you are a reader looking for something fun and short to read on your commute home or a plane to your next vacation, Afterschool isn’t a bad way to kill some time.
Final Score: 3 out of 5
