Engrossing literary horror and a dark, whimsical new comic series

Much of the first issue of The Seasons, a new series by Rick Remender and Paul Azaceta, plays out like an old-school cartoon. A frenzied character, Spring Seasons, crashes her way through people and stores as she chases a very important letter from her sister that keeps getting swept just out of reach by the wind. It’s completely over the top and silly, so much so that you quickly forget how the story opened — with a scene of a city in ruin, cut off from contact with the rest of the world. In that city, we see a traveling circus packing up amidst the destruction, getting ready to depart for whatever its next stop is.

The tonal shift between the opening and Spring’s mad dash is unexpected and hooks you in a “what the hell is going on?” kind of way. Issue #1 doesn’t really tell you what the series is going to be about, but it sure makes you want to find out. Especially once the circus shows up in Spring’s own town.

The description explains a little more: “Summer, Winter, Spring and Autumn are the Seasons Sisters, the daughters of the world-renowned Seasons Detectives. Ten years ago, their famous parents disappeared. Left to raise themselves, the sisters formed an unbreakable bond. Now that bond is tested as the sisters fall prey to sinister forces. The youngest sister, Spring, is the last hope of saving them from a fate worse than death.”

The first issue was released this week and the next arrives at the end of February.