In Utero

by Chris Gooch

Overview

Akira meets Aliens, and Annihilation meets Evangelion, in this coming-of-age monster tale from award-winning graphic novelist Chris Gooch.

Twelve years after a disastrous explosion, young Hailey is dropped off by her mum at a holiday camp in a dilapidated shopping mall. Alienated from the other kids, she connects with an eerie older teen named Jen… but soon dark horrors awaken, and the two new friends are caught up in a cataclysmic battle between two terrifying creatures who have been lying dormant all this time.

One of Australia’s most acclaimed young graphic novelists, Chris Gooch expertly crafts a taut and intimate thriller about mothers and daughters, the monstrous and the mundane, and the power of friendship in the midst of catastrophe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781603095341
Publisher:	IDW Publishing
Publication date:	01/23/2024
Pages:	248
Sales rank:	495,346
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 6.50(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Chris Gooch is a cartoonist based in Melbourne, Australia. His first graphic novel, Bottled, was published by Top Shelf in 2017, followed by a short story collection, Deep Breaths (2019), and a second graphic novel, Under-Earth (2020). All three books received a Ledger award for excellence in Australian comics, while Under-Earth additionally received the Aurealis Award for Best Graphic Novel and was named one of the American Library Association's Best Graphic Novels for Adults.

Editorial Reviews

10/23/2023

In this tightly plotted creature feature, 12-year-old Hailey begrudgingly attends a holiday program in a defunct Australian shopping center that’s still recovering from damages by an explosion 12 years ago. She evades adult supervision and aimlessly explores the structure’s dilapidated remains until she meets Jen, an enticingly independent teenager who offers to show Hailey the building’s more interesting elements. Upon arriving in the mall’s flooded parking garage, the pair find a massive egg, which Jen reveals is her true form. Jen demonstrates additional physics-defying abilities and invites an intrigued Hailey into her psychic “private space,” an alternate realm depicted as a crimson wasteland punctuated by a giant lupine skeleton, the remnants of Jen’s mother. Meanwhile, an infestation of a different type of egg transforms the shopping center into a militarized quarantine area that is quickly rendered futile as the visceral, brain-like objects begin merging into one enormous creature. Red-tinged panels that recount the dramatic death of Jen’s mother alternate with blue-toned scenes of the eggs’ alarming and malicious reassembly until the two parallel stories unite in an inevitable showdown, culminating in an eerie and introspective graphic novel by Gooch (Under-Earth, for adults). Character skin tones match the white of the page. Ages 13–17. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Coming-of-age meets cosmic horror; unforgettably striking, both visually and emotionally.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“In Utero is everything I love about comics. Gripping, heartfelt storytelling and wonderful characters set in a haunting sci-fi world. Chris Gooch might be my new favorite cartoonist!” —Jeff Lemire, author of Sweet Tooth and Descender

From the Publisher

11/01/2023

Gr 8 Up—When an explosion levels 20 city blocks, the tragedy plays out in unexpected ways. For Hailey, it means ending up in a discount day camp while her mom goes to work, as Hailey is too young to be safely home alone. While helping the teacher round up wandering kids, she meets Jen, who stokes her rebellious fires and shows her something no one else knows about in the partially submerged underground car park. What has been lurking in the shadows and discarded areas of this Australian cityscape? The friendship between Haliey and Jen develops quickly because both are suffering from similar kinds of loneliness: each of their bonds with their mothers are strained and they find a kindred spirit in each other. It can be rare that a dark and haunting science fiction story has such wonderful and emotional characters. VERDICT Gooch is a powerhouse storyteller, flawlessly joining dread and whimsy in this tale that will delight anyone who has ever wanted to face danger with a friend. In Utero has all the elements of a blockbuster film and will likely fly off shelves.—Adam Fisher

School Library Journal

★ 2023-10-07
An inquisitive girl encounters strange and monstrous phenomena while exploring a decaying shopping center.

When Hailey, an Australian tween, is dropped off by her mum at a low-budget holiday childcare program in a shuttered mall, she isn’t enthused. Plucky and adaptable (and one of the oldest kids in attendance), she easily evades adult supervision and meets Jen, an enigmatic teen who promises to show her more interesting things amid the urban decay. Eager to prove herself to someone older, Hailey follows Jen deeper into the expansive, crumbling complex. Meanwhile, the other children make a disturbing discovery: The building is infested with grotesque organisms that defy scientific explanation. Soon it becomes clear that something otherworldly is due to awaken, and Hailey and Jen lean on their tentative new friendship as they face the impending calamity. Gooch’s distinctive cinematic style of visual storytelling is both sweeping enough to convey the incomprehensible scale of the skin-crawling horrors the characters face and also intimate enough to deliver poignant moments with impact. Color is inventively used as a storytelling device—shades of muted blues and reds alternate across and within layouts to denote shifts in perspective and create palpable tension. Hailey and Jen have light complexions with black hair and read Asian; there is racial diversity among the supporting and background characters.

Coming-of-age meets cosmic horror; unforgettably striking, both visually and emotionally. (Graphic horror. 14-adult)

Kirkus Reviews