A new Katie Skelly book is always cause for celebration. I have read pretty much every book she's made, including My Pretty Vampire, Operation Margarine, Nurse Nurse, and The Agency. I love her art style and comics sensibility. She makes some very engaging and gorgeous books.
In Heaven, she weaves a tale about four young women who are obsessed with a strange building on the outskirts of town. It is a strip club, but sometimes it's not there. And its online reviews are bizarre.
One of them, Dolly, an ex-gymnast who is from a troubled home and the only one who is 18, not only manages to enter the building, she auditions and gets a job. Her friends pump her for information, and what she finds is some very weird goings-on. The patrons are shady, and Lover, the owner, can be violent. Plus, Dolly gets to wear a vampire cape at work, which is a big plus for her.
The story has horror elements, with vampires, blood, and murder, but it is also a coming of age story about Dolly trying to find her place in the the world. This book is relatively brief, and it conveys its messages in very economical ways. I appreciated how it does not spell things out completely and leaves the burden on the reader to pick up on visual cues.
All of the reviews I have read about this book have been positive. Neil Raymundo wrote that it "balances horror and youthful uncertainty with confidence, delivering a graphic novel that is accessible and quietly affecting." Justin Harrison called it " a compelling, grindhousey coming-of-age tale." Tate McFadden summed it up as "short and sweet."
Skelly speaks about her comics career and inspirations for Heaven in this interview.
Heaven was published by Fantagraphics, and they offer a preview and more info here.
