31 Days Of CCS, #6: Melody Calderon

With Arroyo, Melody Calderon does the best kind of horror comic: one that is almost entirely dependent on its visuals to tell its story. This is a story about the Latinx horror urban legend La Llorona, the "Weeping Woman." She was said to have drowned her children in a fit of rage against her husband's infidelity, and now she lurks around bodies of water, looking for new victims. An arroyo is a narrow gully formed by fast-flowing water. In the story, a man drinks from a fountain that is a statue of La Llorona in an almost flip manner. He falls asleep, only to awaken to a flooded house and city (an arroyo) and the long hair of La Llorona telling him to give her his hands to receive her blessing. As one would expect, it does not go well. 

What makes this comic so good is its attention to detail. From the elongated lettering for La Lloronna to the use of paint for spot color to depict her bleeding forehead, Calderon's willingness to lean into the exaggerated aspects of the story gives it power. Her page composition is innovative, especially as she has a repeating motif of hands being plunged into water. The outstretched hands initially seem to be praying hands, and La Llorona's similarity to the Virgin Mary in the story is not lost on me. There is no mercy to be had here, as her "affections" are arbitrary and merciless. Calderon's got it all working here, and this makes me want to see much more.