The Closet #3 [Review]

By: Mithrandiel

This week, Tynion wraps up his micro series, The Closet. In the closing issue he masterfully reveals the nature of the monster, in a move that is simultaneously predictable, yet brilliant in execution.

As the last issue closed, we saw young Jamie in a horrific situation - the monster had returned via the mysterious closet, and began dragging the boy towards it. Mysteriously silenced, he was unable to call to his dad, who was outside talking with his brother.

Tynion has spent the last two issues unpacking the archetype of the monster in the closet: a horrifying prospect for any child to have to navigate. Of course, in typical Tynion fashion, he also has used the strained relationship between Thom and his wife to examine the monsters that haunt us in our waking hours:

Insecurity, doubt, regret... the burden of expectations. Thom lays these all out in expository dialogue: both in what's said, and what remains unsaid.

However, Tynion makes a point to drive home that Thom is far from blameless. In the previous issue, after summarizing the difficult domestic situation he's in, his brother calls him out - accusing Thom of being angry that his wife didn't leave, because that would have been the easier path. While he rebuts this initially, you can tell that a nerve had been struck.

In this issue, Thom confides in a stranger - providing more information that the reader was not privy to - and you begin to really understand what's driving the constant bickering and tension in the house.

What I love about this series is how Tynion employs a very similar tactic as he does in Nice House on the Lake - the man loves spending time with his characters. It's less about what's necessarily going on in the bigger picture (uh hello, there's a monster traveling via an inter-dimensional closet that wants your kid), but more how our understanding of the players within that story impact the narrative. At a certain point, we become far more engrossed in Thom's experiences, and while venturing down a path you think is completely unrelated to the broader story, you find yourself right where you need to be, right when you need to be there.

This was a fantastic, and horrifying (in its own right) tale. You should definitely seek it out when it arrives tomorrow, or pick up the trade once it arrives.

Sleep tight.