Imaginary Fiends #1
Vertigo Comics
Written by: Tim Seeley
Art by: Stephen Molnar
Color by: Quinton Winter
Letters by: Carlos M. Mangual
Remember Drop Dead Fred, it was a 90s movie about an adult woman who was constantly followed around by her annoying and often troublesome childhood imaginary friend that only she could see. Tim Seeley’s takes the sweet, innocent and fun idea of imaginary friends and turns it into a tormented, horrific experience that is as terrifying as it is unique.
Seeley’s twisted take on the imaginary friend pulls no punches as it opens with the brutal murder of a young girl and all we know about her killer is the name, Polly Peachpit. We are then thrust into a mental hospital 6 years later where we meet Melba Li, who has been charged and imprisoned for the young girl’s murder. Haunted by her past we quickly learn there is more to Melba and the world around us than meets the eye as an FBI agent visits Li to enlist her help.
The agent explains our imaginary friends (or imps) are real and they feed off our 
attention, affection, and fear. Normally as their hosts grow old, they starve out and die but some, stronger imps remain and can start to affect the physical world to satiate their hunger. Melba is chosen because she was a host to one of these imps, and it forced her to kill her friend, but now her and Polly Peachpit must work together to track down and find other rogue imps before they can cause more mayhem.
Seeley proves he is a master of mayhem from the opening pages of Imaginary Fiends. You are immediately horrified by the brutal murder of a child and only want to dive deeper into the darkness as the story proceeds. Seeley’s concept is extremely intriguing and opens the door for a parade of terrifying monsters and grotesque moments. Stephen Molnar’s art is cartoonish enought to pull off the creatures that inhabit this world but real enough to make the blood, guts, and emotion impactful.
Imaginary Fiends takes the innocence of the imaginary friend and turns into a twisted buddy cop adventure that is certain to be the subject of all your nightmares.
Score: 8/10
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