As DC Comics continues to expand its ever-growing Sandman Universe – exploring different parts of the iconic and fantastical world Neil Gaiman created in the 1980s – the recent release of The Sandman Universe Presents: Dead Boy Detectives #1 promises to continue giving readers the horror comic content they are craving. After the great success of DC’s Nightmare Country, focused on the horrific yet oddly honorable nightmare known as “The Corinthian,” it’s no wonder that DC is also bringing back Dead Boy Detectives based on the characters Edwin Paine and Charles Rowland that Gaiman first introduced in 1991’s The Sandman #25.
Dead Boy Detectives #1 is an absolute joy for fans of Gaiman’s original Sandman series or for the several Dead Boy Detective miniseries that have been periodically released since their debut in the 90s, with a focus on dark body horror, Thai-American folklore, and the bonds of friendship. Beloved horror comic author Pornsak Pichetshote (The Good Asian, Infidel) brings his own Thai-American culture into the story in such a powerful way that elevates the story past the “British school children as teenage detectives” trope seen in classic stories like Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. Meanwhile, acclaimed artist Jeff Stokely (Ludocrats, The Spire) and colorist Miquel Muerto (Something is Killing the Children, Bleed Them Dry) delivers such evocatively terrifying body horror art to the issue that it earns its DC Black Label rating by page 2.
SPOILERS AHEAD for The Sandman Universe Presents: Dead Boy Detectives #1!
DC Comics
While Pichetshote includes a one-page backstory of Charles and Edwin’s history – both are young boys who were brutally killed in a haunted boarding school before deciding to stay in the Earthly realm as ghosts to solve crimes together instead of going to the afterlife – with an adorable cameo by Sandman’s Death, much of the emotional thrust of Dead Boy Detectives has always been the traumatically bonded friendship between the two boys. Pichetshote does a good job of showing the reader how much Charles and Edwin care for each other; much of the plot starts because Charles is trying to get Edwin out of a funk, but readers who have not already read other Dead Boy Detectives stories may not feel as connected to the story as they would hope.
Of course, this is the first issue of the series and is very much a setup issue for future plots and character developments, so this writer would highly recommend any reader stick it out past the first few issues regardless of their prior level of experience with the Dead Boy Detectives series. Pichetshote, known for his truly terrifying and resonant cultural-based horror comics, brings his own Thai-American heritage into the story in a powerful and fascinating way, introducing not only the reader to the different types of Thai ghosts and spirits but also Edwin and Charles, whose past detective experiences have been much less supernatural and much more based on Western murder stories. The story takes place in Los Angeles, far away from the English cities the young ghost boys are usually solving crimes in, which is home to the largest Thai population outside of Thailand, making the inclusion of Thai-American culture at the heart of the story even more impactful.
A major part of Dead Boy Detectives #1 is the imprisonment of the 3,000 year old witch Thessaly, who is a classic Gaiman Sandman character, and also appeared in the final issue of The Sandman Universe Presents: Nightmare Country, a story focused on popular Gaiman character The Corinthian. The Thessaly connection between Nightmare Country and Dead Boy Detectives has been teased for months, including a gorgeous Yoshitaka Amano wrap-around variant cover for both comics, but sadly her story feels like more of a B-plot in this first issue. Again, this is issue #1 and is clearly setting up some major supernatural action involving Thessaly, The Corinthian, and the Dead Boy Detectives, but to be honest Thessaly is such a fascinating character written by Pichetshote that it truly feels like she deserves her own series that connects Nightmare Country and Dead Boy Detectives.
The introduction of young Thai-American ghosts Jai, Tanya, and Melvin, each with their own unique culturally accurate ghost-forms gives Edwin and Charles – who seem to be growing apart after almost 100 years together – a teenage “clique” to solve mysteries with, which will surely make for some exciting Stranger Things-like adventures in the coming issues. Plus, the introduction of Dead Boy Detective’s most horrific ghost “a bloodthirsty krasue” (a floating head with trailing organs that kills anyone it finds) gives the end of Dead Boy Detectives #1 a delightfully gruesome twist ending, quickly turning the “friendly adult turned secretly evil” trope on its head. Fans of The Sandman, both the comic and the Netflix TV series, will certainly appreciate the similarities between Dream’s imprisonment by a desperate human attempting magic and the people keeping Thessaly captive and forcing her to do ritualistic spells.
While casual Sandman fans who have not read prior Dead Boy Detectives stories before may find diving into their world a bit tricky, this first issue proves that Pichetshote and Stokely’s fresh take on the decades-old series will provide enough excitement, emotional depth, and goosebump-forming horror for fans new and old. Make sure to check out The Sandman Universe Presents: Dead Boy Detectives #1 and take your first step into the horrifying world of Charles Rowland, Edwin Paine, and Thessaly as they embark on what is sure to be a terrifying journey for all.
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