A demon baby. A prophecy. An assassin. A secret society.
Babyteeth may sound like a predictable story, a variation of something that you may have heard or seen before. But make no mistake. Whatever Babyteeth is on the surface, it is not the story that you think it is.
With the recent release of its 12th issue, Babyteeth remains one of the absolute best horror comics out there. It would be very easy for this to become a heavy-handed story about a little boy destined to bring on the end of days. It could be full of overwrought dialogue and dramatic cross waving.
But it isn’t. It’s a story that knows that at the root of any good horror tale is one thing and one thing only: heart.
Babyteeth follows Sadie, a 16 year old who has been hiding that she is pregnant. When the baby is born, she notices some…unique things about him. What follows is Sadie’s quest to keep her son, Clark, safe from an organization hell-bent on killing the Anti-Christ (no pun intended).
What makes this series so great are the characters. There is no family drama regarding teen pregnancy here. She is hesitant to tell her father, and he only finds out when her sister, Heather calls to tell him that Sadie is in labour. He is a former marine, and I was anticipating that he was going to go ballistic and disown her. However, he gets there, and is supportive immediately, helping her with the baby whenever he can. The dynamic between himself and Sadie’s sister, Heather, is amazing. Heather is a complete rebel, and a totally awesome badass to boot. Their father has made peace with this, and supports and admires Heather as much as he does Sadie.
The cohesiveness of this family is what gives this story its juice. You genuinely care about what happens to each of the family members, and if they are separated, you are equally concerned about each and every one of them. It makes for a fast-paced, engrossing page turner.
As for the art work, it is incredible. Everything has a bit of a blurred look to it, creating an almost surreal landscape that suggests that even the people involved in what is happening can’t believe that it’s happening.
The red undertones that appear whenever a portal to hell is present are shocking compared to the more muted tones in the rest of the comic. It is something that is unexpected, and jars the reader into a mood of “Holy shit!” It reveals a lot about the danger of the world that has appeared without giving away its landscape until the story warrants it, and it is a brilliant way to convey how bonkers the opened dimension truly is.
As far as horror comics go, Babyteeth is unequivocally worth your time. My only complaint is that I read it too fast! I’m always craving the next issue.
Issue 12 has just been released, and the first 10 issues are also available as 2 collected volumes.
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