The ElseWhere Chronicles #1: The Shadow Door by Nykko, illustrated by Bannister, colored by Jaffré, translated from the French by Carol Klio Burrell (Graphic Universe/Lerner, $6.95 paper, 9780761339632/0761339639, 48 pp., ages 9-up, April 2009)
The Shadow Door kicks off the first in a trio of ElseWhere Chronicles (originally published as Les Enfants d'ailleurs by Depuis in Belgium), goosepimply graphic novels that star three bored boys who wind up on an adventure with a girl they meet at the graveyard. Rebecca is attending the funeral of her grandfather, none other than Old Man Gabe, whose house was purportedly haunted. Noah, Theo and Max seize the opportunity to accompany Rebecca to the man's home. Collaborators Nykko, Bannister and Jaffré exploit the childhood fantasy of investigating the neighborhood haunted house to full effect. A stray ferocious dog, feral cat, menacing-looking tree and flashing blinding light are among the unexpected frights. The creators work on an eight-panel framework: they elongate some panels, inviting readers to linger over certain scenes, while truncating other panels in order to zoom in on a detail (such as a dead mouse) or ramp up the pace. One expanded scene depicts Old Man Gabe's hybrid library/laboratory in the heart of the house. Readers will pore over the details--an odd beanstalk-like sculpture, tools laid out on a blanket, spears up against a bureau, piles of books everywhere. In the center of the room sits a "strange machine" that acts as a kind of movie projector, and its projected light opens a hole into another world (the ElseWhere of the title). After Rebecca gets stuck on "the other side," Max becomes determined to save her and figures out how to follow her. In this other world, the Master of Shadows is stealing the spirits of the dead. At times the scenes seem almost too black; it's difficult to discern the action. But kids will think that only adds to the creepiness of the spine-tingling horrors hiding in the darkness. This book ends on a cliffhanger, as does the second installment, The Shadow Spies (also $6.95, 9780761339649/0761339647), in which Noah and Theo join Max and Rebecca in ElseWhere. In the third book, The Master of Shadows ($6.95, 9780761347446/0761347445), readers learn why Max has such a strong desire to stay in the land of ElseWhere, and while it comes to closure, the ending also leaves room for further exploration. None of these stand alone, but taken together, they provide comics fans with a great escape.--Jennifer M. Brown
