The oddly pedestrian life of Christopher Chaos

This energetic action-horror hybrid cowritten by Tynion (the Something Is Killing the Children series) and Brombal (The World of Black Hammer series) finds teenage mad scientist Christopher Chaos struggling to understand his atypical mind: "I think I see the very threads that stitch our world together," he confides to his only friend, a pigeon. But when he accidentally discovers that the cute guy in drama club is a werewolf, Christopher is plunged into an underground society that includes a vampire who calls himself Dracula Boy, a goth girl who can summon ghost cats, and a Frankenstein's monster, all of whom are stalked by a cult of monster hunters. There's plenty to keep the pages turning even without supporting characters like police officer Jesse Tombs, who's trying to get to the bottom of a series of supernatural attacks. The parallels between monstrosity and queer identity are skillfully drawn, and Goodhart's clean, firmly inked art has an offbeat dynamism reminiscent of Mike Allred and Mike Mignola. The mood of the art shifts effortlessly as the script arcs between superhero-style action, gothic horror, steampunk, and fantasy. It's a madcap delight. (June)

Best-selling authors Tynion (DC Pride: Love and Justice) and Brombal (The World of Black Hammer Omnibus Volume 3) team with illustrator Goodheart (Victor and Nora: A Gotham Love Story) to create an LGBTQIA+ coming-of-age story infused with elements drawn from the horror and superhero genres. Since birth, Christopher Chaos has felt cursed by possessing a supercharged intellect which detects patterns and equations everywhere. He's tried his best to hide this, or at least only use it for the betterment of others. Either way, he's been made to feel like a freak, without a place in the normal world. That all changes the night he witnesses one of his classmates transform into a werewolf only to die at the hands of ghostly assassins shortly thereafter. The traumatic incident inspires Christopher to realize that he's been struggling to follow rules set by others when he's capable of manipulating reality itself in order to create a set of rules all his own--which is just what he'll need to do if he's going to avenge his friend's murder. VERDICT A heartfelt horror story, as entertaining as it is empowering.