NECTAR #1 / Written and Created by JEREMY ROBINSON / Layouts by FRANCESCO FRANCINI / Inks by ANNAPAOLA MARTELLO / Colors by STEVE CANON / Letters by JIM CAMPBELL with ANDWORLD DESIGN / Published by VAULT COMICS

The year is 1837. The place is Misery Island. Located just off the American coast near Salem, Massachusetts, Misery Island is well named. It is a cold and lonely place, where even the natives choose to spend the harsh winters elsewhere if they can. However, the village is about to face a more dire peril than the killing frost.

For reasons unknown, a swarm of butterflies seems to have resisted the instinctual urge to move south for the winter. Stranger still, this breed seems to have acquired a taste for blood. And their bite brings about a strange form of madness beyond belief!

Nectar #1 sets its tone perfectly with an opening scene straight out of the works of Poe. A gravedigger in Salem hears a bell ringing, alerting him that one of his charges was apparently buried alive. By the time he unearths her, however, her chest has already burst open, unleashing a torrent of Monarchs with oddly-patterned wings.

The rest of the issue concerns three characters on Misery Island, three days after this incident. One is Dr. Amos Hall, who collects butterflies when he isn’t tending to Misery Island’s many ills. The other two are Emily and Hannah; two teenage girls who are the first to discover the new butterflies’ taste for blood.

Writer Jeremy Robinson does a fine job of establishing the setting and the terror to come. The characters are not quite so well developed, but that is typical of the horror genre. For instance, Dr. Amos’ lover, a local artist deeply inspired by Hieronymus Bosch, goes unnamed even after their romantic tryst. It is a minor point, but somewhat odd given her being otherwise developed into an interesting character in her interactions with the doctor.

The artwork does an equally good job of setting the stage for what comes next. The Italian art team of Annapaola Martello and Francesco Francini have been praised as one of the most phenomenal art teams to come out of Europe in recent memory. Their work here justifies that description. Colorist Steve Canon also makes a masterful contribution to the finished art, with his palettes giving Misery Island an appropriately dour paint job. This is well contrasted by the wardrobe of Hannah and Emily, whose bold pinks and purples stand out against the stark landscape like the butterflies they admire.

Despite a few rough edges, Nectar is an intriguing horror series so far. I suspect it will scan somewhat better in a collected edition than as a monthly comic. With that caveat, Nectar is sure to appeal to all fans of gothic horror looking for something different.

Nectar #1 arrives in comic shops on March 4, 2026.