Babyteeth nº 01

Babyteeth

by Donny Cates, Garry Brown (Illustrator), Marina Borrás Ferrá (Translator)

Sadie Ritter es una chica afable y un tanto friki de dieciséis años que está embarazada de nueve meses y muerta de miedo. Tener un bebé a esa edad es complicado, pero, con el apoyo de su querida familia, todo debería salir bien…

Aunque es posible que su bebé, Clark, sea el Anticristo, emperrado en derribar las barreras que separan el plano terrenal del demoníaco y desatar el sufrimiento eterno para toda la humanidad.Aparte de eso… todo debería salir bien.

Del autor de Buzzkill, Paybacks, Redneck y del aclamado God Country, nos llega una nueva serie trepidante dibujada por Garry Brown, de The Revisionist. Este tomo recopila los cinco primeros números.

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Supernatural, Comic Book, Fiction

168 pages, Hardcover

First published December 19, 2017

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

One night in Salt Lake City, a sixteen year old girl gives birth to the Antichrist. Trying to learn how to raise your baby as a teen is hard enough, but when he can only be sustained off your blood things get much more difficult. Throw in an ancient organization sending assassins to kill your baby and it becomes almost impossible. Lucky for Sadie and her baby she's got a badass big sister and an ex-marine for a father.

The family dynamic and love between the family members is what makes this book. You'll be surprised how quickly you're rooting for the Antichrist to survive. I also loved Sophie's narration of the book. She's recording what has happened in case she doesn't make it to tell her son herself. Highly recommended.

Received a review copy from Aftershock and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 5 out of 5]

#1 Vol 1 ★★★★★
#2 Vol 2 ★★★★☆

Babyteeth is the story of a sixteen-year-old girl who's become a new mother. She has a wonderful support system, but being a teen mom is hard enough without your baby being the antichrist.

This is a horror graphic novel, but it's also a story of family and motherhood. Despite the oddity of her circumstances, Sadie is such a lovable main character. She cherishes her little one more than anything from the start. Her family is so delightful, from her ex-Marine father to her ass-kicking, drug-selling big sister. I honestly loved these characters to death, and can't wait to see where the story takes them.

Thank you to Aftershock Comics for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[James DeSantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's official. Donny Cates has entered my top 5 writers. Like seriously...I love almost everything I read by him!

So we got this story that sounds familiar. A 16 year old girl is having a baby. Nothing we haven't seen on MTV right? However, this baby is the son of the devil, or the devil himself, or a demon, or...well we don't know yet. However, it's not normal. Big ass black eyes when born, creates earthquakes, and eats blood. This is not the type of baby you want but Sadie, that's mom, will protect and take care of her son no matter what. Even if he does bite nipples hard enough to make blood.

Now the ones behind the scenes are seeing these earthquakes and go NO! We must KILL the baby. Scary huh? So they send a assassin and now it's on. The chase to kill the baby while Sadie and her family stops them.

Good: I love Sadie. I love The Captain (her father). I love her sister. I love the family dialog and dynamic because it feels so real. I enjoyed the storyline of protecting your child even if he might be the devil himself. The idea of a organization coming to kill him is really interesting and the events that occur are screwed up to say the least. The comic has perfect pacing, slowing down when it needs to but giving you fast paced action at the same time. Also the art is a perfect mix of gloomy yet not too dark.

Bad: Nothing.

I love love love this story. Like Redneck Donny Cates is able to really give us a good mix of humor and horror in one go. His dialog is top notch and his characters are all varied and interesting. Anything with Cates name on it needs to be checked out it seems. This is a 5 out of 5 for me.

[Dev · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Before I started this I was kind of expecting it to be just another Rosemary's Baby esque story; fun but nothing really special. In a lot of ways this story still is pretty standard so far, but the characters more than make up for it. Sadie was such a great narrator and her dad and sister were really cool as well. It's nice that their reactions to things are not necessarily what you would expect them to be. I'm definitely excited to see what happens next.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started off pretty cool and badass (Heather being a large part of the badass). It took a turn with the introduction of the demon raccoon monster and the warlock. You know in Saga when a new creature/character/thing is introduced and you think it's a little weird, but you just kinda roll with it cause it's friggin Saga and you've come to expect weird shit? Well, I felt like the inclusion of the demon raccoon felt saga-esque, but failed because it seemed too random and silly. I'm debating carrying on with this series; I liked the general storyline and the gory parts, but I'm worried that there will be more odd (not in a good way) characters to come.

[A Fan of Comics · Rating 3 out of 5]

scary good.

I picked the first issue up because it came out on my birthday and I'm very glad I did! The story starts with 16yrold Sadie retelling the birth of her baby and all the hellish events that occurred during. We get to met her family, which is full of badasses and see how hard her home life was even before birthing the son of hell. The sister is probably the best part. I also really like that the family tries to work it out instead of trying to get rid of Clark (baby) and have to come up with creative ways to raise him. The art is pretty cool, although sometimes the noses look a little funky.
There's demons, assassins, cults, and tons of family fun! Im excited to see where this series goes, I am a little worried the whole "retelling/talking into a camera" thing is gonna get old but i have faith in Cates that itll be okay.

[RedL. · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Nobody can resist a baby Stars

Now I understand why my comics-savvy husband suggested and recommended this to me in several occasions. The loving reviews are totally justified.

I am sure you are all more familiar than me with the storywriter Cates for his previous works, surely also with the inking, colouring and lettering artists too, so I'll stick to my reaction to the story, which manages to be horror in a very matter-of-fact way, tender and funny at the same time.

The story is told in non-linear flashbacks by Sadie to her own son and to all us readers, probably the most unflappable sixteen years old you will ever know, and it develops in some leaps and bounds, the volume ended way too soon for me. She's not only a teen single mom, she's also the mother of the antichrist and you are right to imagine she and her baby will be hunted down by some evil organization (apparently the antichrist gets born on a regular basis on earth).

The paranormal and supernatural elements are so far just strokes in the story, not much is explained yet, but we witness some immense power signs from this baby when still in his mother's belly. There is action and blood, fun, a warlock, a hell racoon which is very promising, but for me the winning point is that this, at its very core, is a family story and the attention to the details is what made it so true and believable for me.

Sadie just wants to be a good mother, no matter how scared, insecure and unprepared she feels. And no matter how different her baby seems to be, she just LOVES him and literally gives all her body can to make sure he grows healthily. I know how true this imperative is for new mothers. Even without teeth and a demon incarnation, you will bleed trying to nurse your baby...and that will not stop you. The responsibility to keep a baby alive the first weeks is not anyone ever talks about...I think she is incredibly calm and positive despite the situation she is in, very mature for her age. She worries but she takes it all in stride.

She could not make it without her family and it's not a family with an easy past, but they are there with her, every step of the way. There is no judgement, no accusation, no shaming. The only moment of doubt (which is not rejection and he only needed some extra explanation) from her father is immediately rescued when he does all he can to save their lives. Her dad is just too good to be true, I wish him on every girl, especially teen mothers. Her sister is described as cold and unfeeling, a force of nature on the wrong side of the law, but she is indeed an incredible big sister and she couldn't be one if she really didn't feel. There is a panel in the story, when Sadie talks about her happy childhood memories, where we see Heather feeding infant Sadie, making her laugh and making sure she does not notice the arguing of their parents...this is the kind of details I was talking about, or when Sadie apologies to her son for using swear words while trying to tell her story.

There are just a few things for me to address: I am not sure why the cursing was filtered out considering it is a horror story, I hope more will be shown soon to solidify's Sadie's personality (I am not sure which kind of girl or student she was or why she ever chose that despicable boy) and I do not care for the art, sorry, very personal taste; I think Sadie's father and sister are, so far, better visually characterized than her.

Gallery of wonderful and horrific covers at the end of the volume.

On to the next volume!

[C. Varn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teen pregnancy plus the antichrist: Donny Cates has a gift for blending premises, tropes, and genres. Sadie Ritter is a little bit Juno but in far, far more over her head. Cates, who has a gift for making family dynamics central to his story in a way that only Jeff Lemire really rivals, fleshes her Ritter family with a violent sister and a devoted ex-Marine father here. The dialogue and Cates's eye for the these dynamics has one cheerleading for the Antichrist. Conspiracies loom but seem serve as primarily semi-satirical antagonists for the family drama. Garry Brown's art also have a nice mixture of grim and slightly comical which mirrors Cate's narrative tone, and Englert and Esposito work with color and lettering respectively really do maintain the general aesthetic. My only complaint is that this first volume takes awhile to find its narrative stride.

[laqueus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome, I remember reading this when it came out, a friend lent it to me. But I guess I never got around to Volume 2. I'll have to rectify that, especially with Volume 3 coming out next year. Some of the art was awesome, and the story is pretty cool.

[Raghav Bhatia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty entertaining.

Antichrist baby is born, which is problematic for his 16-yo mother. Story's not even a little scary, which is a bummer, because there's good potential for scary here. Me likey family bond, though.

Already, knowing there are 3 more volumes ahead, I think they could have added fifty or something pages to this and have had it done in one self-contained paranormal capacity.

[Claudine · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s the most horrific baby to disgrace the earth. Physically and emotionally having a baby is one of the scariest things in the world and this comic is a clever take on that.

[Gabriell Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Co je pro divku horsi nez byt v 16 tehotna? DC ma jasno v tom, ze je o dost horsi porodit Antikrista po kterem jsou najemni vrazi, demonicti myvalove z pekla a ktery zvlada levou zadni nasobit problemy, ktere obvykle mivaji matky s malymi detmi.
Jo a je to cele zabavne a krvave a Cates se i nadale ukazuje jako scenarista, ktery mi neskutecne sedi a zeru mu to vsechno i s navijakem.

[Valéria. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea how to feel after reading this. I bought a digital version of it long time ago and completely forgot about it. Today, I came through it, with.. some kind of need to read another volume, but deep down there is something telling me I should probably stop reading.

There's a family. Dad, two daughters. One, older, bad-ass sister Heather, which most of the people find very annoying. And then that 16-year old Sadie who's pregnant, gave birth to antichrist, drinking blood instead of milk, assassins being sent to kill that baby, opened demonic portal, and I could go on writing things that don't sound very catchy, but it somehow works together and you want to know a little bit what is going to happen next.

There's blood.
There's killing.
It's tender in some way, fun here and there. I expected something more terrifying but scene with baby's father at the end of third issue was amazing.
I'll probably try second volume anyway, even with that bad feeling about it.

[RG · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5* Donny cates has written a pretty cool story here. The style is very different, Sadie recent Mum to Clark, tells the story as if shes speaking/telling her son. We have gore, violence, secret societies, blood suckers, assassins and even racoons!! Such a mixed bag of elements but it all works. Family is a massive theme throughout. The plot somehow moves along very quickly but in the overall scheme of things not alot happens. My only complaint from being a 5 star was the short length of volume 1. Wish it was longer.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure about this one. Is this baby the Antichrist? There are assassins and warlocks and some sort of devil-raccoon thing. The family unit here--dad (the captain, so named because he's an airline pilot), older big sister, and teen mother, Sadie--are believably drawn and a tight, loving unit. I just don't really have a very good handle yet on where this is going. Is it going to be a re-do of The Omen? I hope not, but who knows at this point.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I get into the rest of the review, here is my review that was published for Diamond Bookshelf:

16-year-old Sadie Ritter is pregnant, but doesn’t want anyone to know. Though she hides it well underneath baggy clothes, she won’t be able to hide much longer. You see, Sadie is giving birth to the Antichrist, and the world will never be the same.

“My first contraction registered a 5.0 on the Richter Scale.”

This story is being communicated to the reader by Sadie via flashback from one year in the future, as she sits in the ruins of Palestine. Making the recording for her son, she promises to tell the whole story, but hopes that by the time he sees this, she’ll be gone. Just what will the life of this ‘boy with the black eyeballs’ bring to the world, and how will readers benefit from what I’m sure will be horror/comedy?

Writer Donny Cates is currently gaining popularity with ABSOLUTE CARNAGE, VENOM, and THANOS, but those were obtained due to acclaim from his earlier works like BABYTEETH. This first issue is a ride that never let’s go and will have readers clamoring for more. Adults only (18+) for story content, language, violence and gore.


....and back to me.

This book is amazing! Adding to what I said for them (because this Volume adds issues 2-5):
- There is a battle revealed (much more in Volume 2) between two organizations: The Silhouette and The Way. The Silhouette is dedicated to killing Antichrist babies and their parents. To take out Sadie and Clark, they send out Prairie Wolf, a punk rock girl with lives with her father, who is also an assassin. Prairie Wolf is fought off by Sadie's sister, her dad, and new character who we'll cover in a minute.
- When Sadie FINALLY gets Clark to latch onto her for breastfeeding, she finds out that he has retractable teeth and genuinely needs blood to survive. Heather (Sadie's sister) goes in search for the baby's father, but finds him already dead.
- During the battle against Wolf, we meet Dancy Cherrywood, a Warlock, who belongs to The Way, an organization dedicated to saving and protecting Antichrist babies. He is able to send Wolf away, and begins to lead the family (Sadie, Clark, Heather, and Captain) off to a castle where they can be safe.

My words do not do this title justice. Read it! Outstanding modern horror storytelling at its best.
Strong recommend.

[Diana-christie Biancardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art colors in this were amazing!

[Jakub Kvíz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ani tady se nezapre Catesova laska k beckovejm filmum, ale nase necekejte silenou jizdu jako v Ghost Fleet.

Sestnactileta Sadie je tehotna a vypada to, ze jeji dite bude Antikrist, coz prinasi obtize v podobe problemu s kojenim, demonickejch myvalu a najemnejch vrahu, ktery se snazej Antikrista zastavit.

Sem zvedav, jak to bude pokracovat a druhej book si urcite nenecham ujit.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A completely normal 16 year old girl gives birth to the anti-christ. This has got to be good, right? It was good, but I wish there had been a little bit more to the first part of the story. With all the action that was going on I felt like it wasn't as much as there should be for the anti-christ being born and about to destroy the world. My favorite character was the sister, she was a drug addict, yes, but she got shit done and was VERY intimidating but so sweet when it came to her nephew. As for continuing the series, I think I would like to pick up the next volume and see where everything goes but if the action still doesn't seem up to par for me then I would continue after that.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book despite the fact that not a whole lot happens. It's not dragged out or stagnant, but it spends a lot of space setting the foundation. Sadie is a 16 year old girl that gets pregnant with what may or may not be the antichrist. There is certainly some weird stuff that goes along with the pregnancy/birth. And part of the story is just her trying to deal with having a baby, no matter how strange it is.

There are some cool elements of this book. The first thing that comes to mind is when Sadie goes into labor. Up until that point the book could have been just about a normal teenage girl that gets pregnant. Near the end it really starts to pick up and show that there is a plan for the story as a whole. I'm not quite sure where it's going at this point, but I want to find out.

I did enjoy the way the book is told. It uses a frame narrative in which Sadie is telling the story to her child. This allows her to give hints about what is going to come in a more natural way; sometimes things just slip.

The character art seemed kind of rough. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it also isn't something I look for in comics. The backgrounds and set pieces are usually done really well. Part of this might be the coloring. Babyteeth is creepy and awesome.

[melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cool storyline as I think most children are hellspawn. Most of the interior artwork is serviceable, nothing really stood out. But, there are some great alternative cover renditions in the gallery at the end. No idea why a story about a demon child feels the need to bleep out bad words.

*Digital review copy provided by NetGalley and the publisher.

[Michael J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Multiple readings of BABYTEETH pay dividends. True appreciation for the skills of the creative team that went into crafting this comes with a second, third and slower reading. BABYTEETH is one of my favorite horror offerings from AfterShock comics, ranking a close second to A WALK THROUGH HELL on my top list - - and for completely different reasons.
There are two feats that writer Donny Cates completes especially well that elevate this above the standard horror graphic novel and sets it apart: 1) His adept handing of the family dynamic. Cates made a Venom fan out of me by the way he handled the relationship between the main character and his young son. He betters that performance here. I love young and devoted mother Sadie Ritter (16 years old), her single parent dad, and her tough, badass older sister Heather. Even though her newborn son Clark may be the antichrist I worry about his safety and welfare as much as the family does. Too many horror writers seem to forget that creating empathy helps to raise the terror/anxiety/dread bar and keep readers engaged. Also, all of the secondary characters have qualities that define them and make them memorable. (The Prairie Wolf, an 18-year old female assassin; The Coyote, her grizzled veteran hitman of a father; and Dancy Cherrywood the warlock with an escape plan). 2) Cates injects a little humor at just the right places and the appropriate times in the story to balance that fine line between light and darkness. Without some fun moments or amusing dialogue this would be a very dark story and just not as interesting. Trust me, this is a real page-turner.
In addition, the pacing is just right. Cates wisely bookends several chapters with narration by Sadie, at some future point in the story where she is separated from baby and family. She records a video on her phone to share with her son. Her narration provides story background for both baby and readers (us) as well as foreshadows some upcoming events.
The art by Garry Brown is perfect for the story, also treading that fine line between humor and horror. Some scenes are truly dark and terrifying. Brown also has a knack for getting maximum impact from his illustrations of facial expressions and body language. He also knows when it's the right time to inject a bit of lighthearted fun into the story. For example, The Prairie Wolf is in a stand-off with family members and pauses to think, using her gun to scratch her head.
The trade paperback comes with an enlightening look at the creative process from Cate's typewritten page outlines to Brown's rough sketches, then inks, coloring and letter. There's also an extensive cover gallery featuring all the marvelous variant covers that were produced for Issues #1 and #2. This is great stuff, and highly recommended.

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadie Ritter is a 16-year-old who gets pregnant. Her baby comes after surprisingly brutal contractions that shake the earth as well as Sadie's body. The quakes stop when he draws his first breath. Sadie names him Clark - after Superman. All seems well with baby anti-Christ, thanks to Sadie's sister Heather - the drug peddler - and her loving father - the war veteran. But a year later she records a video about the reasons why she must leave him.

Sadie learns that the baby prefers blood to milk - this is right after it screams its head off. Unknown to Sadie, its screams draw an otherworldly creature into the world. It's uncertain what it wants, but an organization named the Silhouette certainly has Sadie's baby in their targets. It's not the first time they killed babies they saw as a threat to the world. They send an assassin - Sidney or Prairie Wolf - after Sadie, but her father keeps her busy until Heather runs her over. 

Then a mysterious individual named Dancy Cherrywood from the Silhouette's rival organization called the Way shows up and reveals that his group sees Sadie's baby as the King, a savior. Dancy heals the assassin using magic and programs her mind to return to her employers and claim that she was successful in killing Clark. Then the gang head for a supposed castle where Darcy claims they will be safe.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was expecting Rosemary's Baby or Omen from this--but very much not the case. This first volume focuses more on the supernatural aspects of 16 year old Sadie giving birth to the antichrist (and all the earthquake aftershocks) and the first assassin sent after them--obviously since the whole thing is told in flashbacks and retelling, things go even more awry than shown here, so will have to get the rest of these to find out what happened. Artwork was okay but the story is the star here.

[Lisa Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that Donny Cates' Babyteeth, Vol. 1: Born was fantastic!

This graphic novel is about a teenage girl named Sadie birthing the antichrist. It has a story within a story structure where Sadie is recording a video for her baby telling him how things got to be the way they are.

The colors and artwork are really well done. The story is interesting and fast-paced. I'm not going to spend too much time on this one because you should just go read it for yourself.

I rated this one 5 out of 5 stars and I highly recommend it!

[Sarospice]

I recently had a dream that a group of people wanted me to compete in a drag competition at Burning Man. I had no costumes or wigs as I'm not a drag queen but everyone promised to give me things, which they did. And of course, I won! And my drag name was Baby Hairs. That story was more interesting than this entire poorly drawn and written book.

[Mindy Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

a teenage girl gives birth to the antichrist. this is fantastic, i cannot wait for volume 2.

[Starla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't wait to read the next one!!

[Chelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

Well this was a surprise! Who would have thought a comic about an anti-christ would hook me like this.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may not be a fan of Cates when he's writing someone else's characters, but when he's telling his own original story he's amazing.