Few creators’ work has instantly grabbed my attention in the last couple of years as Keezy Young’s has. Their short comic Sunflowers, about living with bipolar disorder was an exceptional piece of visual metaphor, while last year’s Hello Sunshine blended horror, mental health awareness and queer narrative in a frankly outstanding breakout book. Young’s output has attained considerable critical acclaim but one entry in their practice that you may not be so aware of is the digitally self-published It’s Bitter, Baby, and it’s Very Sweet, a horror comic that truly embodies that cliched reviewer standby of a story that “will stay with you long after you finish it.”
Set at Halloween 1994, It’s Bitter, Baby, and it’s Very Sweet follows the story of three teens. Friends Chelsea and Corey are a sweet and likeable pair of friends who just want to enjoy their last Halloween trick or treating, even though they probably should have already grown out of the tradition. Jason, meanwhile, is a kid with obvious issues in his background; part of a group of bullies who decide to spend the holiday tormenting Chelsea and Corey.
Fleeing from their harassers, the pair hide in the basement of an old house but are followed in by Jason. What they discover there will shed light on the fate of a missing school friend, as the trio become unlikely allies when an altogether more existential horror rears its ugly head…
So, second reviewer cliché now… It’s Bitter, Baby, and it’s Very Sweet is a difficult book to talk about in depth because it is reliant on the reader to make certain discoveries for themselves to fully appreciate the twists and turns that Young’s story takes. Suffice to say it’s a clever piece of horror storytelling even before its wider themes are also considered; one that looks to subvert reader expectations and pull the rug out from under the audience at a key moment in the narrative.
One of the reasons It’s Bitter, Baby, and it’s Very Sweet works as well as it does is how immediately Young ensures we become invested in the characters. In a handful of introductory pages we have already come to care about Chelsea and Corey and, while we still may not necessarily like him, we still find ourselves having empathy with Jason given the hints about harsher realities in his life. Young always has the finest ear for naturalistic dialogue and that skill is once again on show here, further connecting us to the cast through the authenticity of their interactions.
This is a comic that touches on some very dark themes and readers need to be prepared for that going in. Violence, abuse, and angry retribution all sit at its heart and Young brings these themes to vivid, visceral life as the meaning behind the title begins to resonate with us. Being a Keezy Young comic, of course, every storytelling tool is used to its fullest and richest potential here, including mood-setting and highly atmospheric colouring, and lettering tricks that emphasise emotional states and ramp up dramatic tension. And the ever detailed artwork, empathetic visual characterisation, and haunting imagery are exquisitely spooky in their presentation.
(As a sidenote here Young’s aforementioned Hello Sunshine is my go-to example in internal discussions with reviewers at Broken Frontier of the crucial roles that lettering can play in furthering theme, characterisation and tone. It really is that good in that regard.)
There are stories in different media we all return to time and time again at Halloween. It’s Bitter, Baby, and it’s Very Sweet will be joining that number for me every October 31st. This is horror that works on multiple levels, from the explicit to the implicit, and it’s all the more unsettling for that layered approach.
Keezy Young (W/A) • Self-published, $8.00 minimum price (digital)
Review by Andy Oliver
