|
The Haunted School is a Gen III comedic-horror comic written and Illustrated by Jarod Francis and Nikita Shcheglov. It stars Nik, Jay, Lachlan and Ralph who are expelled from their school and must attend Edwin Elementary, an educational establishment with a dark past.
Released sometime between 2007 and 2008, the Haunted School is considered one of the most memorable comics of Generation III. It featured a dark and suprisingly twisted plot that differed from many of the childish Gen 3 comics.
Plot Summary[]
The Haunted school begins with Jay, Nik, Lachlan and Luke being kicked out of Wakaaranga Elementary School (literally) for causing trouble. Other Schools were seemingly not accepting other student applications except for Edwin Elementary; a sinister, melancholy school resembling a giant castle.
The group of boys find the library where Lachlan suddenly decides to leave for Australia on short notice. A crudely written comic book falls on Nik's head with clues as to why the school was believed to be haunted. The authors of this book were two self proclaimed 'Nerds'. Multiple murders had been documented in this book, in which they conclude that the school is haunted. The book points to a particular thing or person behind the murders. The boys are not given the answer, as the name of the person or thing was ripped from the page. At the back of the book it orders the reader to destroy the book.
Oblivious to the weight of the situation, the boys end up in the men's room where they find chalked outlines of a decapitated female student. To their shock, they conclude that there is a killer at large in the school. The group further investigate the men's room to find a hole in the wall of a cubicle, leading to an abandoned part of the school. Along the way they find a corpse with two giant wounds to the abdomen. They also find large clusters of cobwebs which arouses their suspicions. They explore the abandoned part of the school to find where they believed the killer dwelled.
To their shock they find that the Killer was a Giant Man-Eating Spider. In the room were half consumed corpses hung by cobwebs. The Spider spots them whilst consuming the gym teacher and the boys run away. The spider pursues them, running through walls and roaring.
From this point, The secondary writer Nikita Shcheglov, took over the writing and the illustrating.
Along the way the boys see characters from cartoon network such as Ed Edd and Eddy (as well as plank) from said show, Lazlo and Clam from camp Lazlo as well as Spongebob and Mrs Puff from Spongebob Squarepants. They serve no purpose other than being cameos as students at Edwin Elementary.
To the boy's luck a plane arriving from Australia crashes in the middle of Edwin Elementary, buying the boys time to escape. The crash seemingly harms no-one. To the boy's suprise, Lachlan was on the plane and states that he had come back from Australia. Out of Nowhere, Lachlan turns on his friends, Mr Yag (the principle of Edwin Elementary) fires a rocket at the boys with a rocket launcher. At the same time, a police cruiser crashes through to wall of the school, hurdling towards Mr Yag and Lachlan. The police cruiser kills them instantly upon smashing into the ground.
From this point, the primary writer Jarod Francis took over the illustrating and writing.
two cops point a gun at the boys but then see the corpse of the principle. Spiders are seen crawling out of the principle's corpse. The skinny cop turns fat and the fat cop turns skinny (Which they are self-conscious about).
The rest of the comic from this point onwards is written and drawn by Nikita Shcheglov.
Later that same day they return to Wakaaranga Elementary school to reapply as students. It then skips to lunchtime where Nik and Jay spy on Ralph having intercourse with a girl under a tree inside a tent. The Principle catches them and tells Ralph that 'No Birds and Bees' are allowed in the school. Ralph obeys and stops.
It's back to normal for Nik and Jay, who are now in their 'Grade 6 Class', however that changes; The Giant man eating spider crashes through the wall of the class to finish what he started. Nik and Jay run from the spider. Suddenly the police cruiser from Edwin elementary crashes through the school wall and pursues the spider. The cops order the spider to stop; which the spider obeys. To the Giant Spider's Luck, one of it's babies crushes the cruiser, instantly killing the cops inside. Nik and Jay are surrounded at this point. Not knowing what to do next, they are saved by another plane crashing through the school. This squashes the spider's abdomen. At the same time the spiders fangs pierce the ground as well as the unfortunate Principle, who was impaled by the spider's fang.
School was closed from that point onward, so Nik and Jay went to Jay's house to play Video games. Jay decides its a good idea to fly rocket boots in the house, which ends up with him getting grounded by his mother.
In the Epilogue, Edwin elementary gets demolished, Ralph gets detention for breaking the 'No Birds and Bees' rule and Jay gets grounded.
Background[]
The comic began with Jarod Francis, who wanted to make a horror/mystery story with his friend Lachlan Jarrett who at the time was moving to Australia. Jarod invited Nikita to help finish the comic. Together they spent their lunchtimes finishing the comic page by page in the library at their primary school; Wakaaranga Primary.
It was completed in late 2007, and is considered one of the more important comics that paved way to Generation III.
Trivia[]
- During the book's creation, J Francis teamed up with a fellow schoolfriend named Lachlan and worked on the comic together. After Lachlan announced that he was leaving for Australia, J Francis brought on N Shcheglov to help complete it. Because of Lachlan's real life disappearance, this was retained as a plot point in the comic, in which Lachlan's character actually leaves for Australia.
- The style and visual aesthetic of the comic is based on the Captain Underpants novels by Dav Pilkey, which served as an inspiration for the creators during the Generation III era. Mr Yag, the principal of Edwin Elementary is based on Mr Krupp, a similar character in Captain Underpants.
- On the back cover is an advertisement for "Wild Guys: Fast Forward," a very early Generation IV comic series taking place in the future which never took place. The Maximus is featured on the advertisement.
- Back at Jay's house in the comic, Nik and Jay are playing a game called Monster attack, which is a homage to the Generation I comic 'Monster Attack'.
- The Haunted House is Ralph's main debut. His interesting personality shown in this comic would later cultimate in the Generation V character Ralph Vallas. The iconic "No Birds and Bees on School Grounds" scene would later become somewhat of a meme in the Wildguys Universe.