Giant robots and haunted houses might not seem so similar at first glance, but the two share more in common than most assume. The best haunted house and giant robot stories use speculative elements to reflect and amplify their main characters' emotional trauma. Despite these similar themes though, the two genres are rarely combined. But the realm of comic books is one where no ground goes untread for long. It's this pioneering spirit that guides Image Comics' freshest new series, Home Sick Pilots.
Home Sick Pilots is a series about teenagers who pilot a haunted house like a giant mech. Infused with a suitably 90's punk rock influence, the main characters Ami, Buzz, and Rip are inspired to throw a concert in a haunted house after witnessing the last concert of a much more famous punk band past their prime. Details are scarce so far beyond the basic premise and what readers can glean from the preview pages, but needless to say, the haunted house concert will end with Ami gaining control of a haunted house's ghosts and using their power to animate the house itself.
The series is another collaboration between writer Dan Watters and artist Caspar Wijngaard who previously worked together on the series Limbo. Fans of Image Comics will remember that series as similarly wild, though it appears as though the duo are ramping up their game for Home Sick Pilots. Wijngaard's artwork in the preview pages provided by Image are suitably dark and moody. The artist gives the haunted house a weight that makes its transformation feel suitably titanic. A haunted house that moves like a giant robot should be difficult to picture, but Wijngaard's attention to detail makes it real and terrifying.
As for the writing, it's difficult to say given the handful of pages provided, but it's difficult not to question where this is possibly going. Will Ami battle ghostly Kaiju, or just other haunted houses? Will the other two Home Sick Pilots end up with their own haunted houses, or will they just be supporting characters for Ami? It's telling that the preview pages don't give away too much of the plot, because they work so well at building up intrigue for the new series.
Watters has highlighted the psychological aspects of haunted houses in interviews about the new series, and that should give readers hope that there's more to this story than just a knockout premise. Haunted house stories aren't about ghosts in the same way that giant robot stories aren't about fighting aliens. They're stories about people trying to work through their emotional problems. As for what problems Ami and crew are dealing with in Home Sick Pilots, readers will have to buy the first issue to find out.
Look for Home Sick Pilots when it releases on December 9th.