Written by Jacob Semahn
Art by Jorge Corona
Colored by Gabriel Cassata
Published by Image Comics
After a confusing opening page with an inconsistent color scheme of red, grey, and brown, Goners #1 gathers itself with a nice lead-in hook of two kids (Zoe and Josiah Latimer) watching their parents kill monsters on reality TV. Writer Jacob Semahn builds suspense with a single panel news report of the state’s governor being found dead in the mansion where Zoe and Josiah’s parents, Evelyn and Raleigh Latimer, are fighting monsters. This tiny note of tension is drowned in brightly colored sibling squabbles, sepia-toned flashbacks, and Raleigh Latimer doing his best Bruce Campbell. Jorge Corona’s art may be described as cartoonish with oversized arms, big anime eyes, and non-existent feet. However, even though it’s not “realistic”, it fits the fast moving nature of the story as Zoe and Josiah are almost immediately plunged in the parents’ lifestyle when some freaky monsters call on them. And Corona’s talents shine when he draws these unique monsters and characters’ reactions to them. For the most part, Gabriel Cassata’s coloring keeps pace with the story with an aura of grey in these old houses and a nice Instagram-esque sepia for flashbacks. Like Corona, his colors pop most when the monsters show up, especially in splashes of gore.
Jacob Semahn does his best work during this scenes featuring the Latimer family and the monsters. He has a good grip on suspense storytelling by juxtaposing a few quiet character moments before throwing in a jump scare or an explosion or a dead body. (Sometimes all three.) The flashbacks with Zoe and her mom are short and tasteful if slightly saccharine, but they show the loving relationship the Latimers had with their kids in spite of all the reality TV nonsense. Semahn subverts reality TV cliches in his portrayal of their family and doesn’t make them like the Kardashians, but kind of like the Irwin family from the old Crocodile Hunter show on Animal Planet with a dash of the Winchesters from Supernatural. Corona and Cassata heighten the tension in the chase scenes by switching angles in their art, like showing the silhouettes of one monster before cutting to an overhead shot of a horde of them attacking the Latimer house. Unfortunately, not all of Semahn’s storytelling is this deft and cinematic. Some of the scenes with the policemen investigating the Latimer murders have cliche-filled, CSI style dialogue. Towards the end, there are also leaps of logic to get to the next big reveal. However, Semahn has a good command over his chase scenes, monsters, and main characters (including their emotions) and has only scratched the surface of the freaky world of Goners.
Jorge Corona’s art style for Goners #1 is quite unique. His figures have this manga-esque quality to them, but 
they’re in the middle of a what is the second act of the horror film with the killer on the prowl. The big, expressive faces work for the emotional moments of the comic, like the Latimer’s bodyguard Francis reassuring Josiah with a friendly pat on the head. They also amp up the drama. However, a misshapen foot or a torso sized bicep can occasionally be distracting. As mentioned previously, Corona’s strength is in drawing monsters. And these aren’t the usual vampires, werewolves, or zombies. Semahn and Corona dig deep into indigenous American folklore for this creature of the night. And Cassata’s coloring makes sure that no one will be mistaking it for a Walker any time soon. Goners #1 is filled with monsters, suspense, and plucky kid heroes with a little bit of mystery on the side. It has it
s artistic and plotting miscues, but is promising enough that fans of horror and thrillers will want to come back for the next issue. ( The final page might be the best drawn bit of the comic.)