Storytellers: Peter J Tomasi & Peter Snejbjerg
Colorist: John Kalisz
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Designer: Steve Blackwell
Editor: Brian Cunningham
Cover Artists: Peter Snejbjerg & John Kalisz; Gary Frank & Brad Anderson; Dean Haspiel
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 26, 2025
A hellish night united them, forcing Zachary to sprout a feathered wing to spirit a fiery Rose and his cat Pepper away. After resuming human form, Zachary uses his ingenuity to appease the unquiet dead and return them to the cemetery. But their transformations and evening assisting zombies leave both teens disturbed. Each thought they knew who they were. Now, they are unsure where they belong.
Zachary and Rose attend Warwick Valley Central School but have never been friends. After destroying Rose's sketchbook, Zach invaded Rose's bedroom to reclaim the burial goods she stole from the grave robbers. Zachary is a child of Heaven raised by fiendish undertakers. Rose is a child of Hell growing up with nurturing social workers. Can the two thirteen-year-olds help each other adjust to their supernatural puberty? Let's leap into Hornsby And Halo #5 and find out!
Story
Zachary is used to taking the blame. His parents may run the mortuary, but he does all the work. Like Cinderella and her stepsisters, Zachary slaves while his mom and dad play. He takes responsibility for the zombie invasion, weighed down by guilt over his parents’ thefts. But Zachary also picks locks and hotwires vehicles. In Hornsby And Halo #5, Rose becomes his conscience, pointing out consequences await those who groove to Judas Priest's famous song.
Like Zachary, the Adjudicator also feels guilty. He believes he failed to prepare the children for their Coming Out party. So, when agents from Heaven and Hell attempt to use the children to restart the War Between The Realms, Zachary and Rose aren't ready. The zombie invasion and their transformations freaked them out. Now, they can no longer distinguish reality from fantasy.
Peter J Tomasi and Peter Snejbjerg's story evokes parents ripping away the illusion of belonging. In Hornsby And Halo #5, the Adjudicator must find a way to get Rose and Zachary to trust him. But the young teens want nothing to do with him. Unlike Rose, Zachary can not lock horns with him. But, like Rose, he insists they belong with their human parents.
Art
The Sphinx towers over the children in the cemetery. Rose and Zachary are so desperate to wake up that when they pinch each other, both children scream and shake off the pain. Zachary, Rose, and the Adjudicator become reverse silhouettes before the blazing truck headlights. With one sweep of his hands, energy crackles across the graves, and the snow covering the reburied caskets smoothen. But, the moment the Sphinx takes his eyes off them, the teens vanish.
John Kalisz lavishes a bright palette on appealing characters caught in crisis. The little cemetery, old truck, and snow-covered town are just some of the beloved remnants of Americana that ground readers in fantastic events. The evening sky becomes a tapestry of grayish greens dappled with white amid the frantic, high-flying action. But in Hornsby And Halo #5, nothing is more eye-catching than the Sphinx. Pink, blue, and purple galaxy spin across its dark wings while its glowing yellow eyes link with the golden bands covering his forearms.
Rob Leigh places uppercase letters into white and colored dialogue balloons. Letter size ranges from blessedly generous to accursedly small as the children confront a creature out of mythology. Enlarged and bold letters deform arrows and threaten balloon integrity. Flying stars enhance the children’s pain, while sound effects amplify their fright. But the emblem on a stolen truck reminds us Zachary and Rose tasted something forbidden. Their childhood is over, and scary adulthood awaits. Thanks to Image Comics and Ghost Machine for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
After settling an undead uprising, Rose and Zachary hope to resume their lives. Neither feels like they belong. Still, that is all they know. In Hornsby And Halo #5, the shocks to their systems continue. On the cusp of physical, emotional, and social changes, the thirteen-year-olds discover that their peers aren’t their peers, their parents aren’t their parents, and their world isn’t their home.
Rating 9/10
For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.