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The Closet #1-3
The Closet Vol. 1
Collects a tale of existential horror by James Tynion IV (The Department of Truth, Razorblades) and Gavin Fullerton (Bog Bodies, Bags). Thom is moving cross-country with his family and dragging the past along with them. When his child, Jamie, is seeing monsters in the bedroom closet, Thom reassures him that they will stay in the apartment after the move. But Thom is very wrong about many things and the monsters do continue to find young Jamie.
Collects THE CLOSET #1-3
Collects THE CLOSET #1-3
114 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2022
15 people are currently reading
1531 people want to read
About the author
James Tynion IV
1,643 books1,987 followersPrior to his first professional work, Tynion was a student of Scott Snyder's at Sarah Lawrence College. A few years later, he worked as for Vertigo as Fables editor Shelly Bond's intern. In late 2011, with DC deciding to give Batman (written by Snyder) a back up feature, Tynion was brought in by request of Snyder to script the back ups he had plotted. Tynion would later do the same with the Batman Annual #1, which was also co-plotted by Snyder. Beginning in September 2012, with DC's 0 issue month for the New 52, Tynion will be writing Talon, with art by Guillem March. In early 2013 it was announced that he'd take over writing duties for Red Hood and the Outlaws in April.
Tynion is also currently one of the writers in a rotating team in the weekly Batman Eternal series.
Tynion is also currently one of the writers in a rotating team in the weekly Batman Eternal series.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 291 reviews
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April 10, 2023
Despite not exactly enjoying The Closet, I should commend James Tynion IV (of Something Is Killing the Children acclaim) and artist Gavin Fullerton for creating a short graphic novel that truly shakes you in ways that are deeply affecting and wildly unsettling. Horror stirs things up inside you, makes you feel unsafe, lets fear fill in the cracks splintering in your mind and that can be a trill when contained as a story (or an actual nightmare if you are the story). The Closet, while not being traditionally “scary”, hits these vibes but instead of getting that nervous thrill from the discomfort—and wow is this an uncomfortable book—it’s just tragic and upsetting. Sure, it’s a monster-in-my-closet tale but the focus is constantly stolen away from 4 year old Jamie experiencing heart breaking trauma and instead focused on Thom, his absolute dogshit dad who is so “woe is me” he can’t even fathom that his son’s trauma is anything but another frustration affecting Thom. The framing is clever as it only enhances the realization of how much Thom can’t see beyond himself. Which makes this an interesting book because it is actually quite well done but the stories powerful efficacy instills such disgust and frustration, I mean you want to slap Thom and tell him he’s a self-centered, pathetic fuck as much as literally everyone else in the story does. But it’s what makes it so real, so upsetting, so painfully accurate on how people who are their own worst enemy can’t escape their own mindset that the world is closing in around them and recognize it’s their own hand strangling them. Sometimes the scariest monsters aren’t the shadows behind a door or the approach of beastly footsteps in the forest, but ourselves. And, as is the true tragedy in these situations where children are involved, it’s the children who suffer worst.
Correct. Fuck you, Thom
This book is a well made tragedy that you just want to shake off yourself. It’s so effective but it’s just like, what do I do with this other than be sad as shit? And to try and recognize moments so you don’t allow yourself to become the monster I guess. Like Something Is Killing the Children, we see how kids are the most vulnerable and suffer the greatest, but here everything is so drained of anything actually fun in the story that its just a punch to the face and not much else. The art is fantastic though, especially the monster scenes, and can really capture moments of terror but what is does best is set an uneasy tone that spills from the page and into the reader, leaving you shivering in the bleakness of it all.
I think this is an effective comic as the target audience will likely recognize Thom in their lives. He’s pathetic but you also get a sense of why he is the way he is, not that it condones anything. Hes not dealing well with no longer being the fun young adult and allowing himself to wallow which pushes people away instead of dealing with it. The scene where his old friend calls him out is amazing. But overall it’s just sad because kids are trapped in situations like this where the people who can help them are the ones ignoring them and causing the trauma to begin with (the origin of the monster is cleverly done). It does sort of cast aside any attempt to deal with manifestations from trauma by having Thom fail to contact any psychological help and just…poor Jamie, god this book is just so sad. And there are moments where you can tell Thom just can’t control himself and grow up, so in a way because an adult won’t relinquish their childhood they drain the actual child of their own.
Get his ass.
This was well done but just left me feeling down and not any better for having read it. But it is effective and some of you may get a lot out of this. I think this is the end of it, I mean it makes a solid final point, but if not I won’t be continuing.
2.5/5
Correct. Fuck you, Thom
This book is a well made tragedy that you just want to shake off yourself. It’s so effective but it’s just like, what do I do with this other than be sad as shit? And to try and recognize moments so you don’t allow yourself to become the monster I guess. Like Something Is Killing the Children, we see how kids are the most vulnerable and suffer the greatest, but here everything is so drained of anything actually fun in the story that its just a punch to the face and not much else. The art is fantastic though, especially the monster scenes, and can really capture moments of terror but what is does best is set an uneasy tone that spills from the page and into the reader, leaving you shivering in the bleakness of it all.
I think this is an effective comic as the target audience will likely recognize Thom in their lives. He’s pathetic but you also get a sense of why he is the way he is, not that it condones anything. Hes not dealing well with no longer being the fun young adult and allowing himself to wallow which pushes people away instead of dealing with it. The scene where his old friend calls him out is amazing. But overall it’s just sad because kids are trapped in situations like this where the people who can help them are the ones ignoring them and causing the trauma to begin with (the origin of the monster is cleverly done). It does sort of cast aside any attempt to deal with manifestations from trauma by having Thom fail to contact any psychological help and just…poor Jamie, god this book is just so sad. And there are moments where you can tell Thom just can’t control himself and grow up, so in a way because an adult won’t relinquish their childhood they drain the actual child of their own.
Get his ass.
This was well done but just left me feeling down and not any better for having read it. But it is effective and some of you may get a lot out of this. I think this is the end of it, I mean it makes a solid final point, but if not I won’t be continuing.
2.5/5
June 11, 2024
That was it, huh?
Ok, so I get it, but I still felt a bit let down by the ending.
Like, it was a good story because Tyinion is a great storyteller. Just don't go into this thinking that it's got some kind of a fantastic reveal at the end.
This is a family drama. Period.
There's a good deal of shit to unpack here, but make no mistake, it's mundane.
I honestly thought there was going to be some element of horror to this, but there isn't. And maybe if my expectations had been in order, I would have liked this a lot more.
The skinny gist is that there's a little boy who sees a monster come out of his closet every night and his parents don't believe him - because there's no such thing.
He screams. They come running.
Dad tucks him back in and tells him to buck up because they're moving soon and he won't have to worry about it in the new house.
Of course, it follows them.
But what it truly is and why it follows them is the crux of the story that the reader learns on their father/son road trip to the new place.
Bum, bum, bum...
Don't get your hopes up, Random Goodreader.
Ok, so I get it, but I still felt a bit let down by the ending.
Like, it was a good story because Tyinion is a great storyteller. Just don't go into this thinking that it's got some kind of a fantastic reveal at the end.
This is a family drama. Period.
There's a good deal of shit to unpack here, but make no mistake, it's mundane.
I honestly thought there was going to be some element of horror to this, but there isn't. And maybe if my expectations had been in order, I would have liked this a lot more.
The skinny gist is that there's a little boy who sees a monster come out of his closet every night and his parents don't believe him - because there's no such thing.
He screams. They come running.
Dad tucks him back in and tells him to buck up because they're moving soon and he won't have to worry about it in the new house.
Of course, it follows them.
But what it truly is and why it follows them is the crux of the story that the reader learns on their father/son road trip to the new place.
Bum, bum, bum...
Don't get your hopes up, Random Goodreader.
August 15, 2022
A young boy named Jamie sees monsters in his closet every night when he goes to bed and his parents, Thom and Maggie, haven’t been the biggest help to their son ever since their marriage began to fall apart. The family is moving from New York to Portland though, and Thom assures Jamie that the closet, along with the monster inside, will be left behind in NYC as they will finally get to start fresh in a new home. But as this father and son duo start their road trip across the country, they soon discover first-hand just how hard fresh starts actually are...
This is classic James Tynion IV horror, driven mainly by the characters and a story that I assume is personal to him. I think over half of this series is just the main character having conversations with the cast of limited side characters, but it works since Tynion is so great at believable and realistic-sounding dialogue, and all the convos throughout eventually help feed into the ending we get.
Gavin Fullerton’s art is also a wonderful match for Tynion’s script. The quieter moments between characters are made even more real and relatable than they already are by his pencils, and his art manages to be both simplistic and horrifying when the talking stops and the scares get going. The design for the monster is the perfect example of how effective and horrifying this simplistic work by Fullerton can be in a horror comic.
The ending twist and overall ambiguous ending might not work for some people, but I thought it was pretty in line with the story Tynion had built up at that point. If I did have any complaints, it’d be the format. While I liked these three issues, this admittedly would’ve read a lot better as a 60ish-page OGN. If you want to read this, I’d just say wait for the eventual trade. It’ll probably read better than it did in these singles.
The Closet is one of the most human and personal horror stories I've read this year, and I’d recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Tynion's work. This isn’t his best miniseries ever, but it is a well-told and effective horror story that I feel will sadly be relatable for many, and Gavin Fullerton’s art was a perfect match for the bleak script.
This is classic James Tynion IV horror, driven mainly by the characters and a story that I assume is personal to him. I think over half of this series is just the main character having conversations with the cast of limited side characters, but it works since Tynion is so great at believable and realistic-sounding dialogue, and all the convos throughout eventually help feed into the ending we get.
Gavin Fullerton’s art is also a wonderful match for Tynion’s script. The quieter moments between characters are made even more real and relatable than they already are by his pencils, and his art manages to be both simplistic and horrifying when the talking stops and the scares get going. The design for the monster is the perfect example of how effective and horrifying this simplistic work by Fullerton can be in a horror comic.
The ending twist and overall ambiguous ending might not work for some people, but I thought it was pretty in line with the story Tynion had built up at that point. If I did have any complaints, it’d be the format. While I liked these three issues, this admittedly would’ve read a lot better as a 60ish-page OGN. If you want to read this, I’d just say wait for the eventual trade. It’ll probably read better than it did in these singles.
The Closet is one of the most human and personal horror stories I've read this year, and I’d recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Tynion's work. This isn’t his best miniseries ever, but it is a well-told and effective horror story that I feel will sadly be relatable for many, and Gavin Fullerton’s art was a perfect match for the bleak script.
October 15, 2022
It is important to note that the majority of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the subject matters of the book as well as those detailed in my review overwhelming. I would suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters which contain reflections on abuse, psychological distress, domestic violence, parental neglect, mental illness, the psychological duress of a child, & others.
Jamie is four (4) years old & is an only child. He has a favourite stuffed toy in the form of a bat with a heart-shaped nose; he never goes anywhere without it. The reader learns so much about Jamie as a consequence of his parents paying him no attention. Though he is but a wee lad in the background, he carries the weight of the world on his tiny shoulders & is a person worth knowing. What I want to stress with this short introduction is that for those of us who recognize ourselves in Jamie, or for those who find the subject matter of parental neglect & the psychological distress of a child, overwhelming &/or debilitating, I would strongly suggest you be kind towards yourself when deciding whether or not to read this story.
I am both pleasantly surprised & terribly disappointed in this book. On the one hand, I had not selected it because I thought it would scare me—seldom do Horror stories set anything in my heart alight but the malignant beat that prevails over the hours. I enjoy Horror because there is so much that can be done under the umbrella that shelters the genre; so many stories to tell, & so much innate terror to be shared. What left me feeling disappointed was not the story itself but how it made me feel.
I am disappointed that after all these years, people are unable to recognize psychological distress when it presents itself so outwardly. I am disappointed because night terrors & sleep paralysis are domains that have been more clearly spoken about, if not fully understood. It does not take a child psychologist to know that Jamie is experiencing excruciatingly high levels of stress. All the while, as he cries for his parents to help him, to keep him safe from the ghoulish alien-shaped monster that haunts his closet, they ignore him & focus on their screaming bouts which do nothing but spook the termites eating the base of the home from the inside.
I really loved this story because it became something I hadn’t thought it would be. When I requested this book I thought I might come upon a classic tale of goblins on the rooftop; demons under the sheets; boogeymen in the corners. What was held within this story was far scarier than the worst villains the mind can fabricate because it is real. Thom & Maggie exist in the world today as adults who are struggling to find their way. Yet, that is not enough. It is not enough to ignore your child who is evoking signs of serious anxiety due to the neglect & toxic environment they foster.
The illustrations by Gavin Fullerton are a marvel. The sombre colour pallet stroked across the seams by Chris O’Halloran marks a story worth investigating. Together, the two set the stage for the horrors that are found within a domestic setting, the homes where children & parents sleep under stilted roofs with flowers littering the property.
I was hopeful every time someone clocked Thom for the annoyance he was. Everything was so acutely about him & his experiences; his development, his life, his memories, his age. So little time was spent looking at the child in the room who had tears drenching the elbow crevices of their pyjamas. It frustrated me to read the monologues of a person who could not seem to get a grasp of real life; could not muster the courage to be who they were, ever so much as that being was a hollow trunk of a human person. It made me happy to see other adults vocalize what I felt.
In all, I am glad to have read this story. It was horribly sad but, I suppose that was the point. So often we view the dangers as creeping from darkened forests, sloshing through the neighbourhoods, & knocking from outside the house. Whereas, in reality, the danger is perpetrated by those who know us best; the demonic entities we have no choice but to trust, the vampiric beasts that linger when we go to sleep; those we know dearly as caretakers. Like flowers in the attic, we grow through the floorboards & meet the goons that transform the unconscious state into a minotaur’s lair of terror.
Thank you to Edelweiss+, Diamond Books, & James Tynion IV for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Jamie is four (4) years old & is an only child. He has a favourite stuffed toy in the form of a bat with a heart-shaped nose; he never goes anywhere without it. The reader learns so much about Jamie as a consequence of his parents paying him no attention. Though he is but a wee lad in the background, he carries the weight of the world on his tiny shoulders & is a person worth knowing. What I want to stress with this short introduction is that for those of us who recognize ourselves in Jamie, or for those who find the subject matter of parental neglect & the psychological distress of a child, overwhelming &/or debilitating, I would strongly suggest you be kind towards yourself when deciding whether or not to read this story.
I am both pleasantly surprised & terribly disappointed in this book. On the one hand, I had not selected it because I thought it would scare me—seldom do Horror stories set anything in my heart alight but the malignant beat that prevails over the hours. I enjoy Horror because there is so much that can be done under the umbrella that shelters the genre; so many stories to tell, & so much innate terror to be shared. What left me feeling disappointed was not the story itself but how it made me feel.
I am disappointed that after all these years, people are unable to recognize psychological distress when it presents itself so outwardly. I am disappointed because night terrors & sleep paralysis are domains that have been more clearly spoken about, if not fully understood. It does not take a child psychologist to know that Jamie is experiencing excruciatingly high levels of stress. All the while, as he cries for his parents to help him, to keep him safe from the ghoulish alien-shaped monster that haunts his closet, they ignore him & focus on their screaming bouts which do nothing but spook the termites eating the base of the home from the inside.
I really loved this story because it became something I hadn’t thought it would be. When I requested this book I thought I might come upon a classic tale of goblins on the rooftop; demons under the sheets; boogeymen in the corners. What was held within this story was far scarier than the worst villains the mind can fabricate because it is real. Thom & Maggie exist in the world today as adults who are struggling to find their way. Yet, that is not enough. It is not enough to ignore your child who is evoking signs of serious anxiety due to the neglect & toxic environment they foster.
The illustrations by Gavin Fullerton are a marvel. The sombre colour pallet stroked across the seams by Chris O’Halloran marks a story worth investigating. Together, the two set the stage for the horrors that are found within a domestic setting, the homes where children & parents sleep under stilted roofs with flowers littering the property.
I was hopeful every time someone clocked Thom for the annoyance he was. Everything was so acutely about him & his experiences; his development, his life, his memories, his age. So little time was spent looking at the child in the room who had tears drenching the elbow crevices of their pyjamas. It frustrated me to read the monologues of a person who could not seem to get a grasp of real life; could not muster the courage to be who they were, ever so much as that being was a hollow trunk of a human person. It made me happy to see other adults vocalize what I felt.
In all, I am glad to have read this story. It was horribly sad but, I suppose that was the point. So often we view the dangers as creeping from darkened forests, sloshing through the neighbourhoods, & knocking from outside the house. Whereas, in reality, the danger is perpetrated by those who know us best; the demonic entities we have no choice but to trust, the vampiric beasts that linger when we go to sleep; those we know dearly as caretakers. Like flowers in the attic, we grow through the floorboards & meet the goons that transform the unconscious state into a minotaur’s lair of terror.
Thank you to Edelweiss+, Diamond Books, & James Tynion IV for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 20, 2022
Thom is preparing to move his young family from the east coast to the west coast, and hopes that the move will help settle his marriage with Maggie, as well as calm his 4 year old, Jamie. Because Jamie sees a monster in his closet each night - will he be able to leave it behind or will the monster follow him?
Given that this is a comic written by James Tynion IV, a writer I’ve never had much truck with, I found The Closet to be surprisingly decent. It’s not overwritten with huge blocks of superfluous text cluttering up the page, there’s a good balance between his script and Bog Bodies artist Gavin Fullerton’s visuals, and the story is a fairly compelling one.
That is, until you read the entire book and realise that, while only three issues long, Tynion’s written the same issue three times over. Thom talks to someone wherein we find out what a fuckup he is as a husband and a father, cut to poor Jamie being tormented by the monster, repeat - until the reveal of what the “monster” really is at the end.
Still, the dialogue is clever in showing you what a mess Thom is and how he’s caused the problems in his home life, and the mystery effectively draws you in. The monster scenes are made more powerful by being silent and Fullerton’s art is successfully creepy. The reveal was satisfying and I liked the existential horror aspect of it, rather than it being some overt literal silliness.
But I couldn’t help but feel this would’ve been a really amazing single issue if Tynion had wanted it to be. It’s fine as three issues but it is a little frustrating in how it steadfastly doesn’t progress beyond a certain point and then repeats.
The Closet is a decent horror comic about everyday monsters but Tynion, as ever, manages to labour even a short story into something far longer than it needed to be.
Given that this is a comic written by James Tynion IV, a writer I’ve never had much truck with, I found The Closet to be surprisingly decent. It’s not overwritten with huge blocks of superfluous text cluttering up the page, there’s a good balance between his script and Bog Bodies artist Gavin Fullerton’s visuals, and the story is a fairly compelling one.
That is, until you read the entire book and realise that, while only three issues long, Tynion’s written the same issue three times over. Thom talks to someone wherein we find out what a fuckup he is as a husband and a father, cut to poor Jamie being tormented by the monster, repeat - until the reveal of what the “monster” really is at the end.
Still, the dialogue is clever in showing you what a mess Thom is and how he’s caused the problems in his home life, and the mystery effectively draws you in. The monster scenes are made more powerful by being silent and Fullerton’s art is successfully creepy. The reveal was satisfying and I liked the existential horror aspect of it, rather than it being some overt literal silliness.
But I couldn’t help but feel this would’ve been a really amazing single issue if Tynion had wanted it to be. It’s fine as three issues but it is a little frustrating in how it steadfastly doesn’t progress beyond a certain point and then repeats.
The Closet is a decent horror comic about everyday monsters but Tynion, as ever, manages to labour even a short story into something far longer than it needed to be.
October 8, 2022
Another three-issue collection from Image, which is a bad trend, because it's obviously too short to tell a story. Prepare yourself to yelp "wait, that's it?" at the last page.
(Is Tynion becoming the new Cullen Bunn..? Our new go-to guy for horror that isn't scary?)
(Picked up an ARC through Edelweiss)
(Is Tynion becoming the new Cullen Bunn..? Our new go-to guy for horror that isn't scary?)
(Picked up an ARC through Edelweiss)
July 4, 2022
Another solid James Tynion IV horror series with another solid first issue. I genuinely have no clue how the other two issues of this story will be paced out, since these 3 issue miniseries’ really throw me for a loop, but not in a bad way. I just never know how fast the writer will divulge information to the reader.
Not too much happens here, but Tynion’s good with natural dialogue and making you care about characters. I really dug the design for the monster as well, with it being way creepier than it had any right to be. Will be checking out the rest of this for sure.
Not too much happens here, but Tynion’s good with natural dialogue and making you care about characters. I really dug the design for the monster as well, with it being way creepier than it had any right to be. Will be checking out the rest of this for sure.
January 16, 2025
Adulting sucks. Paying bills. Going to work. House-cleaning. If you're married, adulting gets even more stressful, because now you need to consider another person's needs and desires, work with their own schedule, deal with their problems, too.
Having a kid can sometimes put one over the edge, especially when you're teetering on it to begin with.
James Tynion IV's graphic novel miniseries "The Closet" is a simple horror story about an adorable kid who is haunted by a monster in his closet.
Except it's never that simple.
Tynion IV, who clearly has issues, is one of the hottest writers in horror comics today. His stories are full of creepy otherworldly monsters and psychos, but, at their hearts, they are stories about normal, everyday people with normal, everyday problems.
"The Closet" may appear to be a monster-in-a-closet story, but don't be fooled: it's really about self-absorbed adults who can't seem to get over themselves and are neglecting and unintentionally hurting the most important thing in their life: their kids. And I know I sound judgmental, but that's not my intention, because I get it. We all have shit in our life to deal with.
But here's the deal: if your kid says there's a monster in the closet, it doesn't mean a damn thing to him or her if you think it's metaphorical...
Having a kid can sometimes put one over the edge, especially when you're teetering on it to begin with.
James Tynion IV's graphic novel miniseries "The Closet" is a simple horror story about an adorable kid who is haunted by a monster in his closet.
Except it's never that simple.
Tynion IV, who clearly has issues, is one of the hottest writers in horror comics today. His stories are full of creepy otherworldly monsters and psychos, but, at their hearts, they are stories about normal, everyday people with normal, everyday problems.
"The Closet" may appear to be a monster-in-a-closet story, but don't be fooled: it's really about self-absorbed adults who can't seem to get over themselves and are neglecting and unintentionally hurting the most important thing in their life: their kids. And I know I sound judgmental, but that's not my intention, because I get it. We all have shit in our life to deal with.
But here's the deal: if your kid says there's a monster in the closet, it doesn't mean a damn thing to him or her if you think it's metaphorical...
November 20, 2022
This was fantastic and I loved it. I mean, James Tynion IV has become my favorite horror graphic novelist, so I went into this with high hopes anyways, and I love stories about boogeymen and creepy little closet-crawling monsters in the night, but this was somehow even more unsettling than I expected it to be. We spend most of our time focused on one "monster" in little Jamie's life—his dad, Thom, who is a deadbeat piece of shit that I kind of hope gets eaten—so it's always a little bit extra chilling when we're reminded that Jamie's closet has a "monster", too, and its intentions seem to be quite sinister.
✨ Representation: Maggie (Jamie's mother) is plus-sized; two side characters are Black
✨ Content warnings for:
———
twitter | booktok | bookstagram | blog
✨ Representation: Maggie (Jamie's mother) is plus-sized; two side characters are Black
✨ Content warnings for:
———
twitter | booktok | bookstagram | blog
January 1, 2024
A jackass whines to anyone who will listen about how crappy his life is -- like his four-year-old who cries constantly about the monster in his closet -- while trying to rationalize his self-sabotaging ways. Short and unpleasant, but effective.
July 21, 2024
Huh? That’s IT? Decent creep factor, but I’m not quite sure this worked out at all. What was the point??
January 9, 2023
I read this as it was coming out and nearly didn't realize #3 was the end! Re-reading it now, yeah its pretty clear the story got wrapped up perfectly.
Each of the three issues has our main character, a young father, talking to 3 different outsiders. A bartender, his out-of-town brother, and an older man in a parking lot.
It sort of reads like a Reddit AITA (am I the asshole?) with each of these 3 people in varying degrees of subtlety that, yes, he is in fact the asshole.
The story is basically, him, his wife and his 4 year old are moving across the country for his wife's new job and he's excited to get a fresh start. Things haven't been going well. He's getting in fights all the time with the wife, and his child has nightmare's about a monster in his closet. But! Moving will be fresh start and all his problems will be left behind in NYC. If only things were so simple.
The main feature of the story is the artist (Gavin Fullerton)'s drawings of how the child sees this monster in the closet. Those scenes are eerie and unsettling. It's the perfect depiction of internalized childhood trauma. The book is worth it just for those pages.
Each of the three issues has our main character, a young father, talking to 3 different outsiders. A bartender, his out-of-town brother, and an older man in a parking lot.
It sort of reads like a Reddit AITA (am I the asshole?) with each of these 3 people in varying degrees of subtlety that, yes, he is in fact the asshole.
The story is basically, him, his wife and his 4 year old are moving across the country for his wife's new job and he's excited to get a fresh start. Things haven't been going well. He's getting in fights all the time with the wife, and his child has nightmare's about a monster in his closet. But! Moving will be fresh start and all his problems will be left behind in NYC. If only things were so simple.
The main feature of the story is the artist (Gavin Fullerton)'s drawings of how the child sees this monster in the closet. Those scenes are eerie and unsettling. It's the perfect depiction of internalized childhood trauma. The book is worth it just for those pages.
October 16, 2022
I really like this graphic novel. I feel for te little boy and really dislike the father. I can't wait to read more to see of the monster in the closet is real or just a manifestation of the parents fighting. Also, the illustration is excellent.
August 3, 2022
Well. That was technically a comic, I guess.
October 17, 2022
The Closet collects issues 1-3 of the Image Comics series written by James Tynion IV and art by Gavin Fullerton.
Four year old James is terrified by the monster that lives in his closet. Unfortunately, he is not getting much support from his parents who are constantly on edge due to their upcoming move across the country. They believe with the new house and setting, the closet and the monster will all be forgotten. But things get deeper when James starts seeing the monster when they stop at night to sleep.
Wow! This book is fantastic! I was planning to only read the first issue tonight, but I couldn’t put the book down. The layers of the story are so well crafted. Tynion’s dialog in this book is masterful and the art perfectly captures the tension throughout the book. The ending - chef’s kiss. This book will easily be in my top books of the year. It’s crazy to think that with everything Tynion has his hands in - and he is still consistently cranking out top notch work. He is on a quality role that comic writers can only dream about.
Four year old James is terrified by the monster that lives in his closet. Unfortunately, he is not getting much support from his parents who are constantly on edge due to their upcoming move across the country. They believe with the new house and setting, the closet and the monster will all be forgotten. But things get deeper when James starts seeing the monster when they stop at night to sleep.
Wow! This book is fantastic! I was planning to only read the first issue tonight, but I couldn’t put the book down. The layers of the story are so well crafted. Tynion’s dialog in this book is masterful and the art perfectly captures the tension throughout the book. The ending - chef’s kiss. This book will easily be in my top books of the year. It’s crazy to think that with everything Tynion has his hands in - and he is still consistently cranking out top notch work. He is on a quality role that comic writers can only dream about.
August 13, 2022
This wasn’t badly crafted at all but I hated it, I’d give it a 1/5 if I was basing this solely on my enjoyment of it. This is essentially about a narcissistic flake asshole of a dad and how’s he’s ruining his young son’s life and choking the life out of him by being selfish, self obsessed and an overall shitty human. That’s your protagonist, who you listen to whine across 3 issues so yeah… not fun at all.
December 4, 2022
A harrowing tale depicting a family's conflictual nature due to poor communication and destructive and unnecessary secrets with a child's own imagination trying to process the dark atmosphere and materialize it. A truly well-executed idea here!
June 16, 2022
A creepy opener with great dialogue as I come to expect from james Tynion. Really love the art of the "creature" in here too. Eager to see more of this.
November 3, 2024
This short miniseries was much more a depressing read than a scary one, the sinister imagery paired with the very real troubles faced by the adult main characters work to articulate how kids perceive conflict and hostility. Children can be very sensitive and their world follows slightly different rules, events tend to be felt more intensely. Their whole life is on the balance, their tiny little existence, they can't see things through the lens of different perspectives only experience can help them develop. There's an urgency to your problems when you're 4 years old, like the kid in this story.
But the focus of The Closet is not exclusively about this kid's fear of a monster, we get to see the lives of his parents too, more specifically his dad, a guy living a mid-life crisis, facing the horror of who he has become and how he feels trapped in a life that he should be grateful for. Then we get to see how the dad's and the kid's fears are connected, how we affect each other sometimes without realizing, how deeply we can scar those we love. And it's terrifying, but mostly it is depressing, and the comic does a good job with the art and writing to build this little bleak yarn, so alien and yet so familiar.
This comic has only 3 issues and the themes while not heavy can be upsetting for their hopelessness, yet for its short length the narrative is well balanced in its existential musings and creepy moments. I'm a fan of the naturalism of Tynion's writing here and Fullerton's sketchy and moody looking art also work to create a somber atmosphere, fitting for a claustrophobic familial horror like this.
But the focus of The Closet is not exclusively about this kid's fear of a monster, we get to see the lives of his parents too, more specifically his dad, a guy living a mid-life crisis, facing the horror of who he has become and how he feels trapped in a life that he should be grateful for. Then we get to see how the dad's and the kid's fears are connected, how we affect each other sometimes without realizing, how deeply we can scar those we love. And it's terrifying, but mostly it is depressing, and the comic does a good job with the art and writing to build this little bleak yarn, so alien and yet so familiar.
This comic has only 3 issues and the themes while not heavy can be upsetting for their hopelessness, yet for its short length the narrative is well balanced in its existential musings and creepy moments. I'm a fan of the naturalism of Tynion's writing here and Fullerton's sketchy and moody looking art also work to create a somber atmosphere, fitting for a claustrophobic familial horror like this.
February 27, 2023
Well, if that wasn't just the most depressing little horror story. Hugely readable and compelling, though. Tynion's writing is fairly stunning here, pulling you ever deeper into the unsettlingly realistic world of a mediocre father and his terrified son. This is definitely a one-sitting read - and not one that should be spoiled with further details in a review like this.
(Though there's really not much to spoil - The Closet sort of turns out as you might have expected all along. Whether that's a disappointment depends on your expectations. I think Tynion nailed it.)
(Though there's really not much to spoil - The Closet sort of turns out as you might have expected all along. Whether that's a disappointment depends on your expectations. I think Tynion nailed it.)
September 3, 2022
short but creepy
March 5, 2023
4.5 Stars
The plot isn't very deep, and you can kind of see where this might be heading, but what I really enjoyed was the dialogue. The story centers around Thom who is a stay at home Dad that is at the end of his rope with failing his family life and seems to struggle with emotional complexity. Maybe it's nice to read a realistic viewpoint of a character I've shared feelings with.
This probably isn't a must read for most people, and is lacking traditional horror genre elements but if you go into it thinking it will be character centered with a hint of Stephen King Shining you should enjoy.
The plot isn't very deep, and you can kind of see where this might be heading, but what I really enjoyed was the dialogue. The story centers around Thom who is a stay at home Dad that is at the end of his rope with failing his family life and seems to struggle with emotional complexity. Maybe it's nice to read a realistic viewpoint of a character I've shared feelings with.
This probably isn't a must read for most people, and is lacking traditional horror genre elements but if you go into it thinking it will be character centered with a hint of Stephen King Shining you should enjoy.
November 6, 2022
Decent enough but somewhat too long for its own sake. Could have been done in one oversized issue with probably more impact to it.
December 9, 2022
The closet.... of marital problems. I am intrigued by the classic monster in the closet idea but marital stuff was just too heavy handed for me. Not sure I will read vol.2
January 12, 2023
2.5 Stars
Just okay. This is my least favorite graphic novel I’ve read by James Tynion IV.
Just okay. This is my least favorite graphic novel I’ve read by James Tynion IV.
September 2, 2023
Probably a 3.5 star rating for me.
This book is extremely metaphorical and it is meant to be that way and it is meant to be obvious. I actually really enjoyed watching the parallels between real life problems and their manifestations within a child’s point of view, I think it was a cleaver way to look at trauma and processing emotions. I, obviously, ended up feeling really bad for this poor kiddo and extremely annoyed at his father in particular. Thom, the dad is, like, the epitome of a douche bag. Thank you Tynion IV for also having all the secondary characters be calling this idiot out because he deserves it.
This did what it set out to achieve by pulling on my heartstrings, being pretty creepy and being a complete story but it was only a 3 issue miniseries so it was just really short is all and as per usual I just wanted more. I’m insatiable that way ok? I can’t help myself! At least I can give credit to Tynion IV and the rest of the creators for making this extremely short story feel complete in the time that we had with it so it’s not unpolished feeling, I am just one of those people who like to explore the details more.
This book is extremely metaphorical and it is meant to be that way and it is meant to be obvious. I actually really enjoyed watching the parallels between real life problems and their manifestations within a child’s point of view, I think it was a cleaver way to look at trauma and processing emotions. I, obviously, ended up feeling really bad for this poor kiddo and extremely annoyed at his father in particular. Thom, the dad is, like, the epitome of a douche bag. Thank you Tynion IV for also having all the secondary characters be calling this idiot out because he deserves it.
This did what it set out to achieve by pulling on my heartstrings, being pretty creepy and being a complete story but it was only a 3 issue miniseries so it was just really short is all and as per usual I just wanted more. I’m insatiable that way ok? I can’t help myself! At least I can give credit to Tynion IV and the rest of the creators for making this extremely short story feel complete in the time that we had with it so it’s not unpolished feeling, I am just one of those people who like to explore the details more.
June 12, 2022
3.5 stars. So this family, husband, wife and young son, are getting ready to move away from the city. The young sone has become afraid of the closet. The parents chalk it up as typical young kid scared of the dark. Ummm, it’s a little bit more than that tho. Pretty creepy first issue.
October 24, 2022
Very spooky
December 1, 2022
Really interesting and kind of creepy so far. I’m excited to see where this goes.
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