Title: Wraith
Author: Joe Hill
Edition: Hardcover Graphic Novel
Page Count: 204 pages
Rating: 5 / ✨✨✨✨✨
Book Summary:
Joe Hill’s New York Times Bestselling novel, NOS4A2, introduced readers to the terrifying funhouse world of Christmasland, and the mad man who rules there: Charlie Talent Manx III.
Now, in an original new comic miniseries, Hill throws wide the candy cane gates to tell a standalone story that is at once both accessible to new readers, and sure to delight fans of the book.
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“If you can dream a thing, then it has a kind of reality in your thoughts.”
I’m hosting a giant readalong on Instagram with a friend (#manxcarpooltochristmasland!) of N0S4A/R2 this month, and since it’s a reread for me, I had to snag a copy of Wraith to go with it for something new!
We’re only about halfway through the book, so I took some time this week to read through Wraith and really loved it. I always enjoy reading more behind-the-scenes stuff about villains, especially “why they’re this way” types (The Killing Joke is one of my fav comics, let’s not argue if it’s canon). I didn’t know that’s what Wraith would be going into it, and was very pleasantly surprised!
A whole new cast of characters is introduced in this, and I really enjoyed them all – or, maybe I just enjoyed the bad things that happened to the bad ones? 😛 Christmasland is amazing and terrifying all at once, and I loved the demented quality the art style lent to the story itself. I really enjoy backstories that make me feel a little bad for the antagonist, and WRAITH managed to do that for me with Manx. Some of the other characters had that same quality – Joe Hill knows how to make me feel conflicting emotions!
I would note a bit of a trigger warning for those sensitive to strong language, violence, and mentions of sexual abuse. While these things don’t deter me from enjoying a story, I do understand that they would for some people, so I thought I’d include the mention.
Overall, 5 stars from me – I loved this little visual journey to Christmasland, and will likely revisit it again in the future!
Let's Get Galactic 
I didn’t even know this was a thing. I recently read NOS4A2 this sounds so cool. I’m going to have to check this out.