Proctor Valley Road is a 2021 horror comic book published by Boom! Studios, written by Grant Morrison and Alex Child, with art by Naomi Franquiz and Tamra Bonvillain.
June 1970. Chula Vista, California. Four young misfit teenagers, August, Rylee, Cora and Jennie, want to earn enough cash to buy tickets to the Janos Joplin concert. That's why they decided to organize a Ghost Tour along the Proctor Valley Road, the most haunted, demon-infested stretch of road in America.
Of course, they didn't actually expect there to be real monsters and demons, but when the students they took on the tour actually go missing, the four girls will need to find them...before the town tears them limb from limb. Because the monsters aren't just lurking on Proctor Valley Road, they are in the heart of 1970s America.
Tropes in Proctor Valley Road:
- The '70s: The Title In states that book takes place in June 1970. The characters mention the Vietnam War and how young boys are receiving their Call-Up Papers and are being drafted to fight.
- Afro Asskicker: Jennie has a medium-sized afro and is one of the most strong-willed characters. When her employer says something racist, Jennie replies, "Death to tyrants, motherfucker." And then quits.
- Bait-and-Switch: The end of the first issue has the four girls called into the principal's office and told about how the boys are missing. The reader is meant to think that the girls are going to be accused of doing something to themn...but then the principal states that their Call-Up Papers came in (meaning they were all drafted) and he believes they tried to make a run for the border.
- Book Ends: The first issue opens in the zoomed in letter O on the "Proctor Valley Road" sign. It ends by zooming in on the letter O on the "Order to Report for Induction" papers.
- Butt-Monkey: Cora. Her first scene is her saying that she tried to sell kisses:Cora: One dollar, one kiss. Then some hippy freak slobbered his disgusting flu germs all over me! I had to spend all the money on medicine—Rylee: You made that up! No one has ever kissed you, Cora.
- Creepy Monotone: Cora can make her voice sound like this, which she uses to try and scare the boys when they stop on Proctor Valley Road.
- Foreshadowing: During their Ghost Tour, Cora tells everyone some of the tales of the creatures that haunt Proctor Valley Road, including "the coyote that goes on two legs, not four" and "the bull tangled up in chains and bells it's dragged all the way from hell." Guess what two creatures appear to kill the boys a few pages later?
- Fright Beside Them: Cora's flashlight goes out as the girls are trying to leave Proctor Valley Road. Everything is plunged into darkness. They start to complain:Jennie: Let go of my hand just a little—August: How can she be holding your hand, Jennie? She's holding mine.Rylee: Wait, she has three hands? Cora?Cora: I'm not holdin ganybody's hand, Rylee...Voice: we are
- Making a Spectacle of Yourself: The first scene has Rylee try to steal a bunch of heart-shaped sunglasses from a convenience store while August distracts the clerk. They don't get away with it, but Rylee does end up wearing a pair for the rest of the issue.
- Racist Grandma: The old woman that Jennie (who is black) works for. When she hears that Jennie wants to work for NASA, she says, "They don't send girls to space! Let alone girls like you..."
- Zany Scheme: The girls have all been trying zany schemes to make enough money to buy tickets to the Janis Joplin concert. The latest, however, is the Ghost Tour, which backfires a lot.
