Graphic Novel Reviews: Home Sick Pilots, Volume 1: Teenage Haunts

Home Sick Pilots, Volume 1: Teenage Haunts collects issues 1-5 of Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard’s fantastic foray into 1990’s teenage angst, possession, and haunted objects. Set in California in 1994 against the backdrop of a tumultuous and everchanging punk scene, Ami and her bandmates – the titular Home Sick Pilots – are trying to find their place in the world. Touted as a story that is equal parts Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and The Shining, Watters and Wijngaard have produced an exciting story that will have readers eagerly anticipating new issues and collected volumes.

Ami has an unsavory reputation; she is still relatively new to town, she lives in foster care, and she has a mysterious and possibly violet past. When she meets Rip and Buzz, fellow foster kids, they form a punk band (of course). After a particularly nasty run-in with the Nuclear Bastards, a marginally more successful local band, Ami hatches a plan to put on a gig in the best venue in town – the “haunted” James house. Upon entering the property, Ami becomes one with the house and is charged with retrieving artifacts pilfered from the James estate over the years. According to the authorities Ami is merely missing, but Rip and Buzz know that the house has something to do with her disappearance.

Dan Watters pens a compelling narrative that can be appreciated by teens and teens-at-heart. Ami and her friends (and enemies) speak plainly to the pain and anguish that characterizes young adulthood. Watters story is brought to life in the beautifully stylized manner that Caspar Wijngaard is known and appreciated for – the covers of issues 1-5 are just amazing.

Home Sick Pilots is ideal for high school and new adult audiences, however the story and the art will easily capture the attention of graphic novel loving adult readers.