Queens Of The Crypt, Vol 1 by Dom&Ink

Several points to clarify before I dive into the book: firstly, yes, “Dom&Ink” is the pen name of a single, fabulous person. Secondly, the next time a publicist sends me a graphic novel that relies so heavily on white text on a dark background, I really hope they send me a physical copy. This book was lovely but the digital version made my astigmatism hurt.

That aside, I had a tremendous amount of fun with this YA horror comic! It starts out pretty glumly as Barnaby Jones is, unfortunately, living their nightmare. They’ve just come out as nonbinary to their parents, who don’t understand them at all. School is rough, but at least they have their equally queer and non-binary best friend Fiona. But Fiona is going through a bad breakup, plus their parents are also separating. Barnaby agrees to cover their shift at the museum where they both work, little expecting the strange journey they’re all about to embark upon.

For something has been taking the town’s teenagers, snatching sad, anxious kids for some nefarious purpose. Could these abductions be the doing of the Faceless Frightener, the spectre that’s haunted the town of Widow’s Creek for nigh on a century now? When Fiona goes missing, Barnaby has a terrifying encounter with the Faceless Frightener herself, and accidentally summons a host of unlikely allies who turn out to be the Queens of the Crypt, a group of immortal genderbent former villains determined now to keep the world safe for kids like Barnaby. Soon, Barnaby, the Queens and a helpful librarian are on the hunt to track down a ghostly abductor and save the town’s missing kids. But what will the revelations they uncover mean for Widow’s Creek and for the Queens moving forward?

Despite being rooted in serious issues of gender and acceptance, this was a really fun horror-tinged romp that drew on classic movie monsters to create its kickass team. Barnaby and Miss Kwan make for terrific human anchors, while my favorite Queen was likely Lady Invisible — tho you’d think that ability of hers would have helped rather than hindered in her “former” vocation. Some of the other characters’ powers were admittedly convenient to the plot, but I thought that the villain’s motivation was both awful and hilarious, as we all know someone like that. The Phantom, ofc, was a colossal badass, and I look forward to the unveiling of more of her mysteries in the next volume!

The art is suitably dark, Gothic and arch. I actually didn’t realize till I was going through it again for this review that it was entirely done in black and white! Some of the action scenes get a little murky, but that is common to many graphic novels. For a debut, the pacing on this was phenomenal. I’m super looking forward to Volume Two, and am really glad I got to read this in the run-up to Halloween.

Queens Of The Crypt, Vol 1 by Dom&Ink was published August 25 2026 by Penguin Workshop and is available from all good booksellers, including