The Keeper: A Graphic Novel

by Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes, Marco Finnegan (Illustrator)

NAMED A BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST
NAMED A BOOK WE LOVED BY NPR

A young Black girl finds herself trapped between desperation and her family’s dark history in this horror graphic novel

Aisha has suffered a devastating loss. Her parents were killed in a car crash, and now she must move to decrepit and derelict Detroit to live with her ailing grandmother. However, shortly after moving in, Aisha's grandmother's health rapidly deteriorates. With her dying breath, she summons the dark spirit that has protected their family for generations to watch over Aisha.

At first it seems that this spirit, whom Aisha refers to as the Keeper, is truly doing as her grandmother asked, caring for Aisha and keeping her safe; however, it soon becomes clear that this being can only sustain itself by stealing life from others. As the Keeper begins to prey on the apartment building's other residents, Aisha and her friends must come together to destroy it . . . or die trying.

Written by masters of horror Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes and illustrated by Marco Finnegan, The Keeper reflects on the horror Black Americans face every day, while still staying true to the genre.

Genres: Horror, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Supernatural, Fantasy

176 pages, Hardcover

Published September 27, 2022

About the author

TANANARIVE DUE (tah-nah-nah-REEVE doo) is the award-winning author of The Wishing Pool & Other Stories and the upcoming The Reformatory ("A masterpiece"--Library Journal). She and her husband, Steven Barnes, co-wrote the Black Horror graphic novel The Keeper, illustrated by Marco Finnegan. Due and Barnes co-host a podcast, "Lifewriting: Write for Your Life!"

A leading voice in Black speculative fiction for more than 20 years, Due has won an American Book Award, an NAACP Image Award, and a British Fantasy Award, and her writing has been included in best-of-the-year anthologies. Her books include Ghost Summer: Stories, My Soul to Keep, and The Good House. She and her late mother, civil rights activist Patricia Stephens Due, co-authored Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights. She and her husband live with their son, Jason.

Reviews

[Bookishrealm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solid graphic novel that definitely had some spooky elements. It focuses on a young girl by the name of Aisha who loses who parents and is forced to live with her grandmother. As her grandmother gets sick and eventually passes away, Aisha is left to take care of herself with the help of an entity her grandmother asked to protect her. This entity, “the keeper,” proves to be more sinister than anyone could have predicted. For me, the set up was great; however, I wasn’t completely satisfied with the execution. A huge part of me wishes that we would have gotten just a tad bit more backstory to the Keeper and where it came from. We get a glimpse through Aisha’s family history but it wasn’t enough. I also felt as though the story could have afforded to be just a tad longer. There were so many different things that either were wrapped up too nicely or weren’t explored in enough details. Nevertheless, this is a good pick for the spooky season. I really enjoyed the artwork and the constant play with light and dark. Readers also get to know a main character that’s willing to stand up for herself especially when it comes to bullying. Not sure I was anticipating that. Overall, a solid book. Im hoping that they will consider further exploring these characters and themes in future installments.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

A dying woman makes a wish to a supernatural being to keep her orphaned granddaughter safe. As is the way of wishes, things get dark and bloody. Unfortunately, the slow burn to horror was so slow I got bored and tuned out. It's not bad, but nothing here really surprised or engaged me.

(A graphic novel project: I'm reading all the books on the list of NPR's Books We Love 2022: Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels. Only three to go!)

[Anna Quilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poignant Supernatural story about a young girl who suffers loss and the importance of family-whatever shape that may take..

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

✨3.5 stars✨

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars--A dark entity is tasked with protecting an orphaned girl, but as the story progresses, we learn this protection comes at a steep cost. Now it's up to her to do battle against "the Keeper." This is a spooky, atmospheric story just right for the Halloween season.

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐ rounded up. Creepy as HELL. But, a good story.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aisha's parents die, and she is sent to live with her elderly, and ill, grandmother. More tragedy strikes, and she is faced with some tough decisions. The Keeper is an entity charged with keeping vulnerable people safe, by nurturing as needed, but it also kills, and enjoys it. The Keeper is usually kept in a bottle, but Aisha activates it because, well, she really needs to. More mayhem. She is Black, and that is relevant, especially when we find out about the Keeper's origin. It also gives the book a setting in the nonwhite non-middle-class culture, a good thing.

I'm not sure why my library has it shelved as an adult graphic book. Seems like it would be fine for young adults.

The book is nicely done, but I could have used more explanation of who is who among the more minor characters and what is going on in some places. Three and a half stars, rounded down because I'm not fond of horror.

[Sam S · Rating 4 out of 5]

High 3.5 stars

Creepy! Apparently ya-level horror is the right amount of ominousness for me.

[Maura O'Dea · Rating 3 out of 5]

good spooks, bad pacing—in the authors note it said this was originally intended as a screenplay, which probably would have worked better. needed to be longer, not a lot of dramatic tension

[Heather V ~The Other Heather~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is our comic book club's October read, chosen by me, because...Tananarive Due wrote a graphic novel. I mean, I had to. And it was pretty good. Due brought her usual deft hand to the subject of generational trauma and systemic racism, adding to it a creepy story about a girl who's lost everything and may now be under the "care" of an entity known only as "The Keeper."





It was cool to read something that Due wrote with her husband, Steven Barnes - I'd never read anything by him before. I shouldn't be surprised, but as much as it was an eerie story, it was also a deeply sad/emotional one. The artwork was...interesting. I'm not sure if it was rudimentary on purpose? There were two pivotal panels that I didn't visually understand on first pass, which might've just been me, but it was enough to make me go back and take a harder look at the somewhat nonspecific images once I had more context.




I would absolutely love to see more Due-led graphic novels. Her longform prose practically begs to be adapted. And, actually, in the end notes of THE KEEPER, it's mentioned that this started as a screenplay based on an event in Due's childhood, but the project wasn't picked up, which is why they decided to go the comic route. I'd have loved to see a Guillermo del Toro treatment of a story this creepy.


Anyway! Liked it fine, can't really rave much about it, but certainly worth a read if it crosses your path. (And if you're just looking for an entre into Due's work, I'd recommend THE BETWEEN, and, despite being only a tenth of the way through so far, her soon-to-be-published THE REFORMATORY.)




___

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Keeper is a story that is spooky while also being incredibly moving. We follow Aisha as she loses family members and is left protected by a creature summoned by her grandmother, a creature that is more sinister and violent than she could have guessed. The characters are sympathetic, especially Aisha (although I related deeply to her parents' need to see Night of the Living Dead on the big screen), and as someone who has experienced the loss of a parent (fortunately not both) and a beloved grandmother it's easy to see reflections of my own grief in the story. The lore around the Keeper is also really interesting. And the art works well for me.

I wish we had gotten to spend more time with the characters and the lore, but as it is, I really enjoyed this one and connected with it. I wasn't surprised by the note at the end that said it was adapted from what was originally a film script, because it definitely felt like it would be a great movie too. Although I've enjoyed Tananarive Due in other formats (such as in the documentary Horror Noire or through some of her short nonfiction on Black horror), but this is actually my first experience with her fiction (or with her husband Steven Barnes or the artist Marco Finnegan), and this definitely has me interested in more. Definitely recommended.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been a lifelong comics fan. I've read and loved works from every genre in the medium, from super-heroes to non-fiction, from comedy to crime. Strangely, I’ve always had a hard time with horror comics. This is weird because I do love horror fiction. Even though some of my favorite novels have been horror novels and even though I’m a horror movie fan, I’ve rarely connected with horror comics. Unfortunately, I can’t say The Keeper changed my mind on the subject. I found the story to be lacking in actual frights and the mystery didn’t grab me as much as I hoped it would. The book was also a letdown artwise. Marco Finnegan’s work was simply not up to par. I could have looked past the bland art style if the artist had displayed strong sequential storytelling, but the book suffered from clunky breakdowns and pacing issues. That being said, I think the failings of The Keeper as a work of sequential art ultimately falls into the writers’ lap. Their lack of experience as comics creators was obvious throughout the book. I can’t say I was surprised to learn from the jacket copy that this story started out as a failed movie script only to be turned into “A Graphic Novel” by an editor at Abrams. As a genuine comics lover, I wish non-specialized publishing houses would stop this practice and shift their focus to the work of actual cartoonists who deserves a much bigger spotlight.

[Lanesha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a fun read. It was creepy, heartwarming, and displayed the various hardships of loss and living in poverty. It also, IMO, shows how our ancestors will always be there for us, no matter the cost. Loved the graphics as well.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Keeper is a Jordan Peele–style graphic novel that blends ghostly horror with deep themes of generational trauma and poverty. Centered on a young Black girl forced to survive on her own, it’s haunting in more ways than one. The storytelling can be a bit murky at times, but it’s undeniably packed with heart.

[Cristi Smith-Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ rounded up

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not scary enough for horror, not enough story for the graphic novel. The art is well used and propelled the plot but the plot was a bit thin. It's good, not great.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing about graphic novels is that they always go too fast for me ! This one was good and the story hit all the right notes but I can’t help but feel like I miss too much with graphic novels

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very quick video about this one - https://youtu.be/YKdJyZKc8tg

[Snow · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5/5

[Briana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the theme of finding family, and the double edged sword of how we can try to find safety. I liked how the protagonist felt real and fleshed out. This was a sparse book though. It felt like a sketch at times, rather than fully realized. There were a few occasions when I thought I had accidentally skipped pages in my digital copy.

[Alyssa Lizarraga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tragedy, memory, sacrifice, and horror. What else could a reader ask for? The Keeper follows Aisha, a young girl who has found herself orphaned and in the care of her grandmother. Once a mysterious force seemingly both gracious and malevolent begins to descend upon all that she knows, Aisha must ask herself what it means to preserve a family legacy and whether or not she has the strength to carry it on her own.

Full disclosure, I do not read many graphic novels. I've found that I tend to walk away from them with a surface-level understanding of their stories as my brain slips into the ineffective "few-word-go-fast" mentality. However, the striking cinematic images and expertly crafted sympathetic dialogue united to forge an incredibly stirring narrative that I savored. While I think this story thrives in its short format, I would have loved to see a more episodic version of the story that explored the other characters and the more mundane elements of Aisha's life. What does your morning routine look like when a shapeless eldrich manifestation of your family's dying breaths clings to your every maneuver? Asking for a friend.

[Sucre · Rating 3 out of 5]

a decent story that was really let down by a stiff, unexpressive art style

[Maya (Sup3rN0va) · Rating 5 out of 5]

💫[instagram]💫[storygraph]💫[YouTube]💫[Patreon]💫[Get 60 Days Free of Scribd]💫
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I wish the ending was a little longer and a bit more climactic, other than that I really loved the story overall.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4.5/5 Stars

[Xan Rooyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so good and so dark and very unsettling, while simultaneously being poignant and heart-breaking.

I loved this story and felt immersed in the art, which made excellent use of color vs black&white.

I'll definitely be reading more by this author.

[angelofmine1974 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two and a half stars

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/SvnsDueepnw

Enjoy!

[Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate to say things that might scare you, but I can't sugarcoat the real world, Aisha. So when social workers come 'round or people ask questions, don't let nobody take you away from me. Never. We're all we've got.

I picked up this graphic novel having really enjoyed Tananarive Due's story in Jordan Peele's horror anthology Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror.

This is a classic horror affair. A family with a dark secret, a supernatural force which grants wishes, but at an extreme price, and a young woman who needs help and finds herself in over her head.

It was interesting to learn at the end of the book that this was originally pitched as a film before becoming a graphic novel and that goes someway to explain the pacing of the story which starts a little too slow to only feel rushed at the end. I would love to see it made into a film and I think that would work really well but in it's current format it is a little disappointing, especially given the quality of the author. 3 1/2 stars/

[Danyel Bookworm Gaymer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few days ago, I finished the non-fiction anthology, Why I Love Horror, and one of the authors contributed. Tananarive Due also wrote one of my favorite books last year, The Reformatory. So I decided to check out one of her works she mentions in her essay, The Keeper.

We follow a young girl who lost her parents and is into her grandma’s care. Nothing is quite as it seems in this horror graphic novel. I really enjoyed it, a slow burn more methodical approach to scares. Sometimes the true monsters are the ones in real life. The story has a bit of layers that can be pulled back. Societal commentary is there in the foreground.

The art has a lot of muted dreary colors, but it keeps that tension, especially when it ups the creepiness factor of some scenes. Flashbacks use a nice filter and aesthetics, drawing you in with dreamlike fashion. This was originally conceptualized as a film, and you could see it resemble one like an awesome storyboard concept realized. The panels showing movement to relay a message.

This would still make an awesome movie. Largely if they expand on it a bit more. The pacing was never off, but I was left wanting more. Things could have expanded, it felt streamlined is all. Hopefully Tananarive Due gets one of her works adapted. I want to check out more from her. Always a pleasure to enter her worlds.

[Sheila Bracken · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the opening pages of this horror graphic novel, Aisha’s parents die in a car crash. She is given a choice between living with her grandmother and going into the foster care system. It’s no big surprise that she chooses her grandmother who goes on and on about the importance of family. Unfortunately, the grandmother is elderly and not in good health, and soon Aisha is left with only her great aunt who lives in a nursing home. Rather than reporting her grandmother’s death, Aisha honors her grandmother’s dying request of remaining silent and in their apartment, and that’s when things get really weird.
Before her death, Aisha’s grandmother told her about some of the things that happened to her when she was younger–how she lost an eye and about the spirit that showed up on the night her father died, a spirit that can only be invoked on the point of death. She calls it the Keeper. The Keeper is no fairy godmother; it’s dark and deadly. Aisha has to figure out how to honor her grandmother’s wish that she stay out of the foster care system and how to protect the other people who live in the building.
I have never been a fan of horror, and this story did nothing to change my mind. Despite the fact that this is highly touted Black speculative fiction that features generational trauma and the victimization those most vulnerable–children and the elderly–I could not get past the personification of evil. Yes, evil exists, but I don’t like the idea of inviting it into my space. 2.5

[S.Matt Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot to like and enjoy in The Keeper. The art and story have a classic horror feel to them, and the pacing is good. The best character development is in the grandma, who just jumps off the page. I really could have read an entire story about her.

I think the most interesting thing about this story is how it interrogates the idea of family, specifically a black family, over the last three or so generations. Race, family, survival, trauma, loyalty... these themes are all intertwined with one another, and it does feel like it's breaking new ground within the horror genre, much like Jordan Peele's celebrated Get Out and Us (incidentally, he also gave an author blurb on the back of this book).

Even though I generally like the art, I feel like there are a host of art-related choices that I take issue with. The paneling feels off and doesn't serve the story at times, and there are a few abrupt style changes that are hard to understand. There are also a few spreads and double spreads that just don't land for me, and these are supposed to punctuate some big moments.

All in all, The Keeper is a solid introduction to horror, and I'd recommend it to any kid who also likes Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

[Caleb Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars rounded up. I think the heart of this story, the meaning behind it really resonates with me. It is about mortality and family. About caring for your loved ones when faced with your own end. There are a lot of perspectives of hate in this book, prejudice and discrimination. I like that, in a way, there is no real villain here. Just honest, good intentions that are willing to go to any length to fulfil a dying wish.

I loved the art, and the character work. My one complaint is that it feels a little stilted in places. Its pacing is off causing the story to move too fast at times. I would like to live in the moment and let the atmosphere work its magic, but too often with this medium it is too easy to read on very quickly and lose that emotional impact and tension.

I have not had the pleasure of reading anything from Tananarive Due yet, but I am looking forward to picking up a few pieces. I can feel her passion for telling authentic stories steeped with culture and social impact and that calls to me. I will be picking up one of her books very soon.