In this review of Exquisite Corpses #1, the players of the game have arrived in Oak Valley, in the newest horror thriller from writer James Tynion IV.
Exquisite Corpses #1
Writer: James Tynion IV
Art and Main Cover: Michael Walsh
Colors: Jordie Bellaire
Variant Covers: James Stokoe, Jenny Frison, Nimit Malavia, Alex Eckman-lawn, Jae Lee, Michael Walsh
Pages: 32 pages
Release Date: May 14, 2025
The players of the game have arrived in Oak Valley, the families they are representing are ready and waiting in the game room. Now it’s time to play for the control of Power in America.
With Tynion having already established himself in the world of horror titles with the likes of Something is Killing the Children & The House of Slaughter we know that suspense and immaculate story telling will be right there from the start and Exquisite Corpses is no exception.
In this issue of Exquisite Corpses #1 Tynion sets the scene for us in this quaint town in rural America, Oak Valley. In this issue Tynion also sets up the main characters and their characteristics in a way that you can figure out what kind of person they are from the outset. It truly is wonderful writing.
Tynion’s technique of drip feeding you parts of story before quickly changing between characters and scenes keeps you wanting to turn the pages and find out what it is that’s truly going on in Oak Valley. The first part to intrigue me was what is it the Sheriff actually knows about what is going on in Oak Valley, this was piqued during his encounter with the mysterious man at the edge of the town. We quickly find out though that the mysterious man is an employee of the Gamesmaster, and it’s his job to tie up the loose ends in the proposed town for the games, such as removing the cops and cutting all communication to the outside world.
It’s here where Tynion splits the story into three different narratives. We have the introduction of the Family of Massachusetts, where they’re attempting to lure in their candidate for the game. Though at this point the name of their candidate is unknown.
The second narrative is the different Family Representatives entering the games room displaying their very different personalities which Tynion and Walsh have managed to get across to the reader so well with the language used by these family members as well as the way in which Walsh has depicted each one of them and their body language and how they present dynamically.
The 3rd narrative is that of a family from the town of Oak Valley, where they are seen to be getting into the Halloween holiday spirit and getting ready to attend the festivities that occur each year. Again due to the phenomenal writing of each character and how they talk, you immediately get the sense of personality from each of the characters introduced at this point and how they may act in the story to come.
As each Family Representative enters and announces their candidate for the games, the more arrogant some of the Family members become. At one point a Family member is laughed at by another simply because that family’s sister had put herself forward for the games. This struck me as a fairly pivotal part of the issue for the reason that this woman who has put herself forward shouldn’t be seen as an easy target, I feel that a few of the candidates in the game may also see her this way and may probably end up regretting it, but we’ll have to wait for the story to develop further before getting stuck in that way of thinking.
Once all the candidates had been dropped at their drop off points in town the games is set underway by the Family currently in charge. Here is where the narratives that Tynion had running along side each other now converge into one. One of the teens in the family that had gone to work at the scare house bumps into one of the candidates whilst on break and is seen as an easy target by the candidate.
The candidate attempts to kill the teen with his large hammer, though unbeknownst to him another of the candidates was stood behind him and took him out before anything could happen to the teen who is seen fearing for his life on the floor. The candidate that saves him tells him to run and hide until morning, so he makes a run for it.
Wrapping up Exquisite Corpses #1, we are introduced to some paramedics who are about to start their shift for the day, one of which the Sheriff knew and wanted a letter passed to her which is outlined at the beginning of the issue. After conversing with the Gas station clerk for a few minutes she opens the letter and is visibly confused but also distraught about what it is the Sheriff has told her in the letter.
We then get a quick visual sum up of what it is each established character from this issue is doing, we have the teen running away, the other teen taking care of the boy who’s mother had to run to work, the boys mother in her office, the gas station attendant looking paranoid, the paramedics leaving the petrol station to start their shift and finally the Gamesmaster smiling and enjoying what he’s already seen. I really liked the way that Walsh pulled all of the different narratives together in these images. It perfectly shows how everyone is feeling and acting in that precise moment across many different perspectives.
To round it all up I think Tynion and Walsh have something here that they truly should be proud of. The ways in which they can take this story and can build upon it and maybe even produce spin off series in time to come is almost infinite. Whilst reading Exquisite Corpses #1, I found myself thinking, they could explore this, they could do flashbacks here, they could put a twist in with this and I would eat up every bit of it. It truly has been one of the best reads this year so far for me.
In regards to the art in Exquisite Corpses #1, Walsh has perfectly depicted the facial expressions throughout this issue in order to get across the personality of the characters that Tynion is introducing to this new world that he’s created. The dynamic poses of each character has really helped shape their personalities too.
I maybe would of liked a bit more of the games to feature in Exquisite Corpses #1, but I think taking the time to establish the characters is needed in a story such as this and for that reason I can forgive the lack of action of the game featured in this issue.
Phenomenal read. Go pick up a copy now!
