Created on a budget of less than $15,000 and shunted along in the festival circuit for roughly two years, "Paranormal Activity" is one of the most noteworthy films released this year. The found-footage horror flick emerged this fall as a top box-office earner, setting records as the most profitable film of all time. Considering the out-of-nowhere success, it's no surprise that tie-ins are only just starting to trickle out.
One of those tie-ins is "Paranormal Activity: The Search for Katie," a digital comic for iPhone and iPod Touch published by IDW. The story picks up after the events of the film, so needless to say, there are SPOILERS AHEAD.
The first issue of the new series was released as a self-contained App, downloadable for $0.99, and promised some answers for fans regarding what became of Katie after the terrifying final minutes of the movie.
Picking up shortly after the events of the film, "The Search For Katie" follows demonologist Johann Averys, a character referenced but not seen in the original story. Dr. Averys shows up at the former home of Micah and Katie Sloat, now a sealed crime scene. Micah's body is gone, the police are searching for Katie, and only Averys suspects the truth of what happened.
Unfortunately, this issue really doesn't do much as far as advancing the continuing story of "Paranormal Activity." It mostly functions to set up the Averys character as well as Detective Singh, a sympathetic police officer who harbors some doubts about what really happened to Micah and Katie Sloat.
The artwork is relatively simple, but it works. The familiar settings and characters — the few glimpses that we get — are easily recognizable as being lifted from the film. There's no real comparison between the movie and the comic stylistically, but the art definitely works in terms of telling the continuing story of the film.
The follow-up story was created by veteran writer Scott Lobdell, who has writing credits for Marvel on "Uncanny X-Men," "Generation X" and "Fantastic Four" (among others) as well as "Galaxy Quest" for IDW. The art comes from Mark Badger, best known for his work on Marvel's "The Gargoyle" and DC Comics' "Batman: Jazz."
Have you read "The Search For Katie"? Let us know what you think in the comment section or on Twitter!