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)