Blackwood

Blackwood is a fun book, if you are into tales of horrific, otherwordly creatures trying to break into our world to devour and subjugate all of humanity. It is about four misfit teenagers who have been recruited to attend Blackwood College. Nothing seems to unite them except series of strange life experiences and some ability to either perceive or interact with supernatural entities. Campus life is eerie and weird, and soon everything escalates into an apocalypse-level event. The four motley teens need to find ways to unite their abilities in order to figure out what is happening and also save the world.

 

This book had a pretty interesting mystery that unfolded in intriguing and gruesome ways. The characters are more types who do not have much space for development, but they are sympathetic in the same way teens trying to survive 1970s/1980s horror movies were. The book had some cool features along the way, including professors trying to decipher arcane texts, a two-headed chimp mummy, giant mutated insects, and people infested with inter-dimensional tentacle beings. It was a fun read, and I think it ended in a satisfying way that also leaves things open for a sequel that will be published next year. I know I'm looking forward to seeing more stories set in this world, which is well detailed and has a lot of possibility for more grotesque supernatural hi-jinks.

Originally published as a 4-issue limited series, Blackwood was a collaboration between writer Evan Dorkin and artists Veronica and Andy Fish. Dorkin is a multiple Eisner Award winner most known for writing Beasts of Burden, but I am also partial to his work as writer/artist of the series Dork and Milk and Cheese. Veronica Fish is a painter who has done a lot of different work for Marvel Comics (Silk and Spider-Woman) and Archie Comics (Sabrina the Teen-Aged Witch and Archie). Andy is Veronica's husband who did the coloring artwork here and has worked on a variety of other comics, including ones about Batman and urban legends. All three creators speak about their work on this series here.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have been positive. Forrest Hollingsworth called it "one of my favorite horror comics of the year." Dustin Cabeal wrote, "To have a book that’s entertaining, horrific and enticing makes Blackwood a comic no one should miss." Joe Grunenwald opined, "Dorkin, Fish, and Fish are at the top of their game here."

Blackwood was published by Dark Horse, and they offer a preview and more about it here.

Calla Cthulhu

Calla Cthulhu originally appeared as a webcomic on the Stela platform, but it has recently been published as a trade paperback. I know that H.P. Lovecraft has a lot of fans, but I have never read any of his work (I tried "The Color Out of Space" once, I just could not get into it...). Still, I know that this book/character title is a pun, and I am a sucker for those. Also, I am a big fan of the writers, so I checked it out. Spoiler: my lack of specific Lovecraft knowledge did not keep me from enjoying this book.

The plot here follows an orphaned, young woman named Calla Trifali who learns that she is descended from the Great Old Ones, elder gods/inter-dimensional beings who hope to invade Earth and spread destruction and mayhem. Of course, her being raised to respect human life brings her into direct conflict with her uncle, AKA The King in Yellow.

What results is a lot of action and intrigue where Calla finds herself battling tentacled beings in sewers, old houses, and other gruesome locales. I do not want to spoil much, but this book acts as a great introduction to the character and her world. Also, it concludes in very open-ended fashion, which is not so satisfying to those seeking definite narrative closure. Still, the door is wide open for her further adventures, and I hope we get more of them. This book is a fun read in the vein of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with a badass young woman battling all kinds of vicious creatures.

This book is a collaboration between writers Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer (who are married) and artist Erin Humiston. Dorkin is most known as the writer of Beasts of Burden, but I am also partial to his work as writer/artist of the series Dork and Milk and Cheese. He is a multiple Eisner Award winner. Dyer is known in comics mostly for her edited series Action Girl. They have also done a bunch of television work, including scripts for Superman Adventures and Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Humiston works primarily as an animator who has contributed to a wide array of works. Dorkin and Dyer speak more about their work on this series in this interview (or if listening is more your thing, this interview).

I was not able to locate many reviews of this book, but the ones I found were very positive. J. Caleb Mozzocco called it "a pretty killer riff on Lovecraft’s labyrinthine mythology." Kittie Pop gushed that "this story brings me such a gravitational amount of joy that I want to share it with everyone I care about."

Calla Cthulhu was published by Dark Horse, and they have a preview and more available here.

I saw Dorkin and Dyer this year at HeroesCon, where they sold me a copy of this book and were kind enough to also sign it. They are great!

Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites

Beasts of Burden is a high concept book, part Ghostbusters, part The Exorcist, and part The Incredible Journey. Rex, Ace, Red, Jack, Pugsley, and Orphan are pets, all dogs except for Orphan who is a cat, and they deal with supernatural threats to their neighborhood. Each animal has a distinct personality and much of the joy and humor comes from their interactions. They deal with a number of precarious situations, including a haunted doghouse, an unnatural giant frog, witches, and a sadistic animal abuser. Although they evoke imagery from classic children's book paintings and include snappy dialogue, the stories are rather dark and often horrific. More details about the series and its background can be found in this article by Shaun Manning.

The book's creators, Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson, are both veterans of the comics industry. Dorkin is famous as the writer/artist of Dork and Milk and Cheese and is a multiple Eisner Award winner. He has also done a bunch of television work with his wife Sarah Dyer, including scripts for Superman Adventures and Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Thompson is an accomplished comics artist and painter well known for her work on Neil Gaiman's Sandman and her own Scary Godmother.

Beasts of Burden has received a number of professional accolades, among them Thompson's Eisner Award for Best Painter in 2004 for “Stray” and Dorkin and Thompson's joint win of the 2005 Eisner for Best Short Story for “Unfamiliar.” It has also received many positive reviews. Newsarama's Sarah Jaffe wrote that the mix of cuteness and horror "sucks you in and leaves you waiting for more." Reviewer Steve Kanaras simply called it "wonderful." A more detailed review from Tom Spurgeon gets at many of the creator's strengths.

This collection is of a 4-issue series and two short stories. A preview of the first issue is available from the book's publisher Dark Horse. The complete short story "Stray" is available here.