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Sight For Sore Eyes:
A Review of Sight Unseen
by Robert Tinnell and Bo Hampton
Review by Raquel B. Pidal
Sight Unseen, a new graphic novel by writer Robert Tinnell and artist Bo Hampton (Image Comics), combines
all the elements of a good page-turner in one neat, slim volume. The book has complex characters, a tumultuous
father-daughter relationship, a blind man who sees ghosts, a creepy old house... and of course, what good horror
novel would be complete without a camping scene? But unlike schlocky camp-scene movies, there’s nothing
hokey about Sight Unseen. In fact, the horror aspect of the story doesn’t dominate any of the other
equally strong plot elements.
Frank Byron is a blind neuro-physicist who can see ghosts. It’s not what you think; get thoughts of The Sixth Sense
out of mind. Frank has developed special glasses that allow him to see ghosts and that record electro-magnetic activity
any time spirits are near. His daughter Molly is bitter and spiteful because of a dark moment in the family’s past;
assistant Derek is, for the most part, a trusty sidekick but he’s got a tendency to poke his nose places where he
shouldn’t, like into said dark family past. When people in their quiet Virginia town start disappearing, including
Molly’s boyfriend, the three form an unlikely team and investigate the weird vibes given off by the old, creepy house
in town: The Birches.
The story has lots of drama, lots of creepiness, and a heaping helping of dark humor: a gentleman who excuses his drinking
with the claim it’s always 5 o’clock somewhere, a searing battle of sarcasm between Derek and Molly (she humorously
calls him “Professor Shithead,”), and of course the campers in the camping scene, probably the humorous highlight
of the story and sadly short-lived (quite literally).
It’s the artwork that really moves the already-strong story along. Hampton’s depictions of the characters are all
spot-on, from Molly’s constant scowl to the depiction of the evil lurking at The Birches. The panels play out frame by
frame, seemingly sequences from a movie. The dramatic action is portrayed in pages that are a meld of dark colors, with one
prominent color throughout pulling the eye from one frame to the next: the similar purple-blue shade of Molly and Frank’s
clothes; the yellow splotch of light that is the only source of illumination in The Birches; the red of an apple in the scariest
sequence involving a piece of fruit you’ll ever see.
The book includes a section at the end of Bo’s original sketches and some of the e-mail exchanges between Robert and Bo
as they developed the plot, giving readers a fascinating look at the way such a richly developed story began. Sight Unseen
is a solid read for those who love a good horror story, those who love graphic novels, and anyone who loves a solid plot and
complex, believable characters. Tinnell and Hampton plan to work together again, so we can expect to see another formidable
contribution from this collaborative team — though sadly not a story starring the ill-fated Sight Unseen camping couple.
Raquel B. Pidal
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Bio: Raquel B. Pidal is a freelance editor and
writer who has worked on a variety of projects, including memoirs, business and career management books and articles,
health articles, book proposals, and novel synopses and analyses. She has also taught several workshops for children
and young writers. Raquel graduated Cum Laude from Ursinus College with a degree in English and Creative Writing.
She earned Departmental Honors for her senior thesis, a memoir about her Cuban émigré mother, and has won
several awards for her writing. Raquel’s creative nonfiction has been published in The Bucks County Writer,
The Bucks County Review, and Wild River Review, including book reviews, a regular column in Wild River
Review called “Around the Block.”
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