Babylon Cove #1
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Art: Joe Eisma
Main Cover: Joe Eisma
Variant Cover: Eric Powell
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: May 20, 2026
This review contains spoilers
The first issue of Babylon Cove opens with a black-and-white flashback where one Professor Hutchens is entreated to leave an artifact and not reunite it with one that is already in his possession, as indicated by a photograph in his tent. Also in the photograph is a young girl, who (passing over the violent end of the professor’s…disagreement) we learn is the professor’s daughter Heather.
A few days later, we see that Heather, now an adult, is somewhat estranged from her parents and has vowed never to return to her hometown, despite her unsatisfying job and isolated social life in the city. This vow is quickly broken when Heather’s mother calls with news of her father’s passing. As Heather travels back for the funeral and encounters some of her old high school classmates along the way, we see not only a few flashbacks from Heather’s perspective, showing how she perceived things, but also hear some passing comments from others about how her behavior was perceived by others.
There seems to be more going on in Babylon Cove than just Heather awkwardly confronting her past. Many of her peers are returning to town to attend funerals of their own family members, and the residents of the local nursing home seem to be developing a tendency to wander… and utter ominous portents of doom. Not to mention the green slimy worms they’re coughing up.
From a distance, the story could be the perfect romance setup. We have the typical busy businesswoman suddenly called back to the idyllic small town where she grew up, suddenly reconnecting with high school flames. But, Babylon Cove is actually the perfect subversion of those classic romance stories… and was marketed as “What if Stephen King got to write a Hallmark movie.”
At the opening, Heather seems like some put-upon workaholic with a Miranda Priestly knockoff boss, but listening to her inner monologue throughout the first issue there are a few moments when she seems genuinely delusional and a touch narcissistic. Heather clearly is an unreliable narrator with regard to her own past, as she frames it to herself as getting cheated on and leaving town on bad terms, while some of her former classmates accuse her of specific, more malicious actions including causing someone to break his leg. This is done to great comedic effect. Heather is still likable, and there are enough unlikable people against her that I think she still works well as a lead here.
The second aspect of our romcom corruption is the eldritch horror. In between the family drama and attempting to escape an accidental class reunion in the cemetery, the signs that something bigger is going on are adding up. The big question there is, will it break and finally become a full-blown horror story, or will Heather remain oblivious, living out her romcom storyline with the cult of R’lyeh* a mere backdrop for whatever 30 Rock Season 3 Episode 5 thing she’s got going on. Either way, it’ll be good comedy.
Industry vet Joe Eisma plays with an interesting style here, the linework is clean but has a very sketchy, organic feel to it, with a lot of variation in line weight to draw the eye. The first two and last two pages are particularly well done, with colorist Marissa Louise deserving a round of applause for her work with the closing scene.
Final Thoughts
The first issue of Babylon Cove was certainly enough to keep me intrigued for the next issue, and I’d say maybe the third even if number 2 doesn’t quite live up to expectations. The team is making good on a promising premise so far, and I’m ready and willing to see where they take it!
