Initially released through ComiXology Originals, Dark Horse is releasing the collected trade paperback of Scott and Jack Snyder’s By a Thread in collaboration with Snyder’s own imprint, Best Jackett Press. The Snyders’ first collaboration navigates the pitfalls of adolescence in a post-apocalyptic tale set in a very different and violent world.
A tiny square of slime or mold known as the Shroud expands and kills most things in its path. Eventually, the Shroud covers the entire Earth and forces mankind to live high above in places called needles. When their homes are threatened, Jo and a group of friends living in Needle Three must travel the skies across the wasteland to find safety or stay and be ruled by the local warlord, Charon. Charon feels the kids are hiding something when a stranger appears, and he will stop at nothing to find the stranger.
While Scott Snyder is no stranger to violence in his books, Charon and Ren are two of the most intense characters I’ve read in a while. Ren’s bladed foot gives her a penchant for round-house decapitations while Charon’s known to use his iron fist to control the people he extorts. Valerie Favoccia’s art brings this functioning post-apocalyptic world to life. Whitney Cogar’s bright colors contrast their world in the sky with the gray of the Earth’s surface below covered in the Shroud, but it’s their world in the needles that’s full of doom and gloom. Tom Napolitano’s lettering pushes the story along with its sometimes long dialogue, but Jack and Scott’s character voices are so good that it’s easy to look past.
Overall, the story’s analogy and messages conveyed get its point across well with a timely story and memorable villains. The comic feels very Brian K. Vaughn influenced with its narration similar to Saga‘s. The way the kids are put front and center feels Spielbergian in this way, but also close to Vaughn’s writing in The Runaways. If Scott Snyder’s writing is normally too dark for you, this is a much lighter affair and is definitely worth your time.
Creative Team: Scott Snyder and Jack Snyder (writer), Valerie Favoccia (artist), Whitney Cogar (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
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