THE CRYING BOY – Graphic Novel Review

A recently widowed mother moves to Queens with her young son. Her son finds himself taken with a haunting painting that is a conduit for evil in the graphic novel The Crying Boy.

Synopsis

After the tragic death of her husband, a woman and her son restart their life in a new apartment where they discover a morose painting that her son bonds with but they later discover it hides a demon that has survived for millennia by feeding on the souls of children

The Crying Boy was written by Niall O’Rourke with art by Rob Moran.

The Crying Boy is a story about loss and grieving. The story follows recently widowed Nadia and her son Samir who move into a new apartment and are tormented by a demonic entity, and Father Cyril Murphy, a priest who tries to rid the family of demonic influence. The priest reminded me, looks wise, of Donald Pleasance.

The story is told well and has some genuinely unsettling moments, some of them in your face and some of them fairly subtle. The Crying Boy is a self contained story that is told in 4 issues and has a definitive ending to the main story while leaving things open for another chapter.

The art for the demonic entity is pretty creepy and twisted and the designs are pretty unique and interesting. I didn’t like the artwork for the characters as much. I thought maybe a different art style would have been more emotionally investing.

Final Thoughts

The Crying Boy is a graphic novel full of creepy moments and unsettling imagery. Recommended.