The Girl in the Bay #1
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Artist: Corin Howell
Colorist: James Devlin
Letterer: Clem Robins
Publisher: Dark Horse
Review by Anelise Farris
The Girl in the Bay #1 introduces us to seventeen-year-old Katherine (Kathy) Sartori. The year is 1969. Out for drinks and drugs with her pals, Kathy thinks nothing of accompanying a stranger on a stroll. Unfortunately, he attacks her and tosses her into Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn. Against all odds, she survives. However, when she reemerges, things look a bit different. The year is now 2019. If that wasn’t strange enough, a doppelganger has been living as Kathy, and it looks like she is going need to confront her attempted-murderer in order to figure out what exactly is going on.
First issues are tricky, especially ones that deal with time travel and doppelgangers. That said, the creative time here shows themselves to be extremely capable of handling such an ambitious story. Beginning with Kathy in the water and then allowing her to backtrack and recount the events that lead up to her “death” was a smart move that set up great pacing throughout the whole issue.
The writing, though a little exposition heavy, moves the story along at a swift pace, and the letterer does an awesome job of integrating the word balloons into the panels. The art is youthful and bright, with thick lines. And the dark, moody colors that appear from time to time remind that reader that this is very much an eerie, otherworldly story. The creative team behind The Girl in the Bay #1 do such a good job of bringing readers into 1969, that I admit I was a little sad when we moved into 2019. Kathy is flawed, and maybe a little deluded — announcing herself as “a Brooklyn-born Siddhartha” — but she’s very likable, and I’m all in for this cosmic mystery.
Verdict: Buy it.
Murder, time travel, doppelgangers, it’s all here folks! The Girl in the Bay #1 is a stellar debut issue, and I’m excited to see how the mystery surrounding Kathy’s “death” develops.
