R.L. Stine brought thrills and chills to generations of young readers, and his books have become a part of the middle-age experience. But how do his tales translate to comics? Stine and Carola Borelli have teamed up for The Graveyard Club: Revenge Game #1, the latest from BOOM! Studios and it is time I found out what all the hoopla is about.

THE GRAVEYARD CLUB: REVENGE GAME #1

Writer: R.L. Stine
Artist: Carola Borelli
Colorist: Francesco Segala
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Editore: Sophie Philips-Roberts
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $9.99
Release Date: September 18, 2024

PREVIOUSLY IN THE GRAVEYARD CLUB: In the 1980s, R.L. Stine released his first horror novel. This led to the classic Fear Street books (which turned into a three-movie deal on Netflix) and, eventually, the famous Goosebumps series, which had kids screaming for decades—DECADES! Now, well into his comic book phase, Stine brings his brand of YA horror to The Graveyard Club.

PLAYING IN THE CEMETERY

I didn’t read R.L. Stine when I was younger, but I’ve seen my children thrill to the scary tales Stine has cooked up over the last fifteen years. With the release of the Fear Street trilogy of movies in 2021, I found my appreciation for what Stine brings to the table, so when I heard he had a new comic from BOOM! Studios (he’s been writing comics for the publisher for several years now), I was more than a little interested to see what waited between the covers.

Back in the day, cemeteries were places where people would hang out, have picnics, and socialize because that was the only real green space people could access. For the kids of Graves End, the cemetery is a place to play hide and seek, have fun, and grow into seniors in high school. The Graveyard Club #1 quickly introduces the cast of characters and the shenanigans Patti, Caleb, Trip, Rhonda, and Parker are getting up to. They are the misfits and the outcasts. They are The Graveyard Club.

Like The Breakfast Club, each of the characters in this issue is unique and different from the others, in the same way Claire Standish and John Bender are polar opposites. And like the Breakfast Club’s Principal Vernon, the Graveyard Club is trying to stay clear of Officer “Ray-Ray” Higgins and his bully of a son, Billy-Roy, who both are as bad as their names imply. It is also revealed that both Parker and Rhonda’s fathers disappeared on the same night, and they didn’t get along with Officer Higgins either.

The Graveyard Club thinks the best way to get back at the bullying is to pull the perfect prank on Higgins, in only the way high schoolers in an R.L. Stine story can – by “accidentally” blowing up his patrol car. The story beats that follow, and the villain reveal, make complete sense from how Stine has set up the characters, even hinting at potential conflict in the opening pages of this issue. But like we have seen with the Fear Street series, something more sinister is at play, and we’ll have to wait to see how that develops in part two… which arrives in April of 2025.

ART ON TARGET

While Stine gives each of the characters a unique voice, artist Carola Borelli makes sure every character—even those standing around in the background—is unique and easily identifiable. With a story that takes place around high school, populating the environment with as many people as possible breathes more life into this story. It also gives Borelli a chance to play around with horror tropes in the teenage slasher genre, and I think it comes together quite nicely in this issue. I like how Borelli lays out the page – especially when the action amps up in different scenes, and the panels start to get “wonky” on the page.

Complementing Borelli’s art are the colors by Francesco Segala. The muted tones and use of blues and oranges work to drive the reader from page to page, giving us a chance to focus on the gory parts, even when the gory parts are off-panel. While my review is based on a digital copy, there is something about the coloring that makes this comic feel older than it is, and it brings the creepy nature of the story to the next level.

BOTTOM LINE: STINE GONNA STINE (AND SHINE)

This is a big issue, with a big cover price, but I don’t know if much more can be trimmed from the story without watering down the ramping intensity of the revenge pranks. This is a R.L. Stine story, and if you are a fan of his writing in other comics, books, and so on, you know what you are going to get, and I think The Graveyard Club #1 delivers on those expectations. This story isn’t the slasher tale it leads us to believe, and it isn’t a horror fright-fest either. It is a thriller, and it does satisfy us by the time we get to the final page. The Graveyard Club #1 may not be for older readers, but I think the YA audience will find a great deal of enjoyment in these pages.

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