The period the place fictional children regularly idolized their fictional dad and mom is lengthy gone. At this time’s children notice their dad and mom are sometimes flawed people, usually needing the youngsters’ recommendation on life, at the same time as many of those children don’t notice their very own flaws. Such a dynamic might not generate familial bliss however they do create good battle for tales, particularly when that guardian has a secret life (an attention-grabbing and action-packed secret life) that the child doesn’t learn about. Such is the setup of The Sin Bin, written by former “Supernatural” author Robbie Thompson and illustrated by Patricio Delpeche. The Sin Bin is a captivating, monster-bashing good time a couple of woman and her hockey enjoying, monster searching father.

That monster searching father is Dale “Dukes” Duquesne, a hockey participant who’s on the tail finish of his profession and bouncing from one minor hockey workforce to a different, however his daughter Cat, his largest supporter and giver of unsolicited recommendation, believes that he’s only one good recreation away from the majors. Nonetheless, younger Cat makes a discovery about how her dad spends his break day the ice. It seems he hunts ghosts and monsters and banishes them to a dimension referred to as the Sin Bin. Cat quickly desires to hitch the household enterprise, even when she doesn’t notice the hazard concerned.

Followers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a tv present that artfully straddled the road between horror and humor, ought to discover Cat an attention-grabbing heroine. Thompson constantly makes her the e-book’s emotional heart in addition to the POV character answerable for how the viewers sees this world of combating monsters, fights at college, and dwelling in lodge after lodge. Fortuitously, Cat has sufficient pluck and willpower to deserve her spot because the e-book’s foremost character at the same time as Thompson explores the typically fraught but by some means deep bonds between guardian and little one.

Individuals who keep in mind Buffy the Vampire Slayer would possibly keep in mind the violence Buffy dishes out whereas serving because the Slayer. Nonetheless, the e-book’s aesthetic as constructed by artist Delpeche, focuses extra on the motion components than the horror. There are many issues right here with tentacles and sharp enamel however they’re drawn in a method that’s meant to excite moderately than horrify. Reasonably than spend time illustrating Junji Ito-inspired horrors, Delpeche saves his abilities for character design, permitting them to precise a plethora of feelings that readers can see and expertise.

Clearly written for youthful (and older) teen audiences, this e-book has simply sufficient horror to not be horrifying, and teenage librarians with patrons who love Supernatural, Stranger Issues, or different sequence that includes monster fights will probably be joyful to discover a monster fighter as relatable as Cat. Whereas hardcore horror followers may not discover this scary, this e-book nonetheless excels at being a breezy, enjoyable battle with monsters that by no means loses its coronary heart.

The Sin Bin
By Robbie Thompson
Artwork by Patricio Delpeche
IDW, 2025
ISBN: 9798887241678

Firm Age Ranking: 13-17 years

NFNT Age Advice: Teen (13-16)
Creator Illustration:  Argentinian,