By Daniel Vlasaty

Growing up, I never had an imaginary friend. Not sure what that says about me but I just never did. But I do remember my sister having one. It was this fat little baby looking-thing named Chebby or something like that. I also remember trying to play with them, my sister and Chebby were always getting up to something, but she never let me. She’d always say that Chebby didn’t like me or that it (he?) was mad at me or that it hated me. My sister was older than me and was never really nice when we were kids. But I was determined to have an imaginary friend of my own. And I started to lie about having one. I created this dog named Spike, and the thing fucking sucked. Anyway, imaginary friends are stupid, and I’m only saying this because I’m still slightly bitter that I never had a “real” imaginary friend of my own. And also because fuck Chebby, that fat baby asshole. But seriously, Imaginary Fiends #1 is basically a mash-up of that shit I was just talking about and like Criminal Minds (or any of the millions of other similar shows) and those two girls that tried to kill their friend because the Slenderman told them to.

I would probably describe Imaginary Fiends as a slow-burn horror book. It’s creepy and weird and also kind of silly. It’s a story that takes the concept of imaginary friends and turns it into something dark and surreal. Tim Seeley introduces us to a character named Melba who has spent much of her short life in juvie for something that she was not totally responsible for. He’s also introduced us to a world where imaginary friends are real and they’re fucked up and not everyone can see them.

In my opinion for a horror comic book to work it’s all about pacing. And I think this can be a tricky thing. especially in a first issue because there needs to be a good balance between the story and the character development. Because the scary/horror/fucked up stuff is important, obviously, but it only matters or has any real impact if it’s happening to characters that the readers are invested in or relating to. If there’s no connection the shit tends to fall flat. Seeley handles this well in this issue by creating a character in Melba who is interesting and mysterious and broken. She is both uncomfortable and completely commanding. I’m excited to see her story unfold.

The passage of time is another thing that Seeley handles well here. We are not even introduced to Melba until six years after the shocking event that opens the book. And without even knowing anything about her you can already tell that things have been rough on her. You can see it in her eyes, in her disheveled appearance. And this is before the imaginary friend thing is even introduced. This girl is broken. She is lonely and sad and scared. But that is that being locked up for years and years does to you.

Stephen Molnar’s art is great. It is clean and sharp and fits the book’s slower pace. The characters are expressive and I think this is important – especially in Melba – because it shows us everything that she’s not going to come out and say. And I thought the creature designs were good and the idea of using imaginary friends really opens endless possibilities when it comes to the art and design. I’m really looking forward to see where Molnar takes the art as this book progresses.

I had never even heard of Imaginary Fiends before I saw it on our review list. And honestly, based on the title alone I kind of assumed it would be a throw-away book – something to be read and then immediately forgotten. But I’m happy to say that’s not the case. I’m happy because this book is fresh and exciting and I’m also happy because I’m always happy when I find a new horror book that I actually like.

Score: 4/5

Imaginary Fiends #1
Vertigo Comics