A comiXologist Recommends:
Jen Keith recommends Chicacabra

Isabel Sanchez, also known as Izzy, loves beetles and her Uncle and smoking with her friends. She doesn’t love pretending that everything is okay at her high school when her life and family were torn asunder only a short time ago. Still lost in a haze of getting along day by day while her own mother serves as a painful reminder of her loss, Izzy’s life is upturned once again as one lost girl becomes two when a chupacabra makes her its host body in Chicacabra.

Tom Beland’s cartooning is simple yet so very expressive. With a few lines he’s able to pull and engage you into a folklore of his own creating. The poignant scenes of familial bonding balance wonderfully with the comical moments of Izzy hulking out into a bloodthirsty creature that, despite being the stuff of horror legends, is just as endearing and clueless as the teen girl it inhabits. Chupacabras aren’t just goat-sucking creatures; their myth is revived into something new and heart-wrenching.

On top of the folklore of the less-explored chupacabra and vejigante (which had a fascinating interpretation and I’d love to see a book just exploring Beland’s vejigante retelling), we’re brought to a new environment not as common in comics: Puerto Rico. The culture is as lush as the cast is emotive through Beland’s detail and specific locales, and it’s refreshing to see a different city from the usual set.

For lovers of expressive black and white comics, mythology, and finding your strength in times of loss, check out I Kill Giants for more young heroes finding their strength to conquer and, in time, accept what life throws at them. Until then, bring your love of folklore and a box of tissues with you for reading Chicacabra.

[Read Chicacabra Here!]

For fans of: female leads, POC leads, horror

_{Jen Keith is a Digital Editor at comiXology, comic artist, music addict, and kind of wants a chupacabra of her own now.}