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Graphic Novel Review: Nicnevin and the Bloody Queen by Helen Mullane, art by Dom Reardon, layout art and title page by Matthew Dow Smith

NIcnevin

Nicnevin and the Bloody Queen by Helen Mullane, art by Dom Reardon, layout art and title page illustration by Matthew Dow Smith

Humanoids, 2020

ISBN-13: 9781643377131

Available: Paperback, Kindle, comiXology

 

Nicnevin “Nissy” Oswald and her younger brother Gowan are sent to spend the summer with their mother in Northumberland, something about which Nissy is less than pleased. While they are there, Gowan comes across a dead body when he is out playing football with his friends. A modern-day druid is committing ghastly murders, thinking he could free the power of the ancient gods of Great Britain. When he targets Nissy, he makes a terrible mistake. She has a connection with the land and animals around her, one that she hasn’t accepted yet.

page4     Most of the story is great. Nissy discovering her family history, who she really is, and what she can do, offers an interesting coming-of-age tale. The folk horror content is solid.  Reardon’s artwork is perfect for a story full of folk horror, mythology, and ethereal creatures. The illustrations of the Wild Hunt were especially eerie and beautiful.

 

A few parts of the story were lacking. For instance, I’m not sure why Nissy, Gowan, and their mother are spending the summer in Northumberland. It is clear there is a strained relationship between her and her mother, but it doesn’t seem like a divorce situation, given how the parents give each other a parting kiss prior to their leaving. Readers can see the partial content of a letter regarding Nissy being expelled from school. We see Nissy’s frustration and anger toward her mother about having to be away from her friends for the summer. Nissy simply comes across as argumentative for the sake of being argumentative. We don’t get a glimpse of her previous life, and what has led her to become so angry with her mother.

 

Another aspect of the story I can’t come to terms with is Nissy’s crush on a 35-year-old man named Reggie. There is a series of panels where Nissy pleasures herself while thinking about him, and the animals outside engage in sex outside the cottage. While it helps illustrate her connection to nature, I can’t help but wonder if there was another way this could have been played out. A troubling panel depicts Reggie and Nissy nude together. Later, she attempts to engage him in a kiss, which he thankfully refuses. if you are squeamish about teens exhibiting sexuality, you might want to skip this. I don’t mind a healthy dose of sex and sexuality in my horror, but I’m not a fan of this particular type.

 

Contains: brief nudity, murder, sexual content, violence against women

Recommended, with reservations

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on March 11, 2020 by , Reply

Graphic Novel Review: H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness Volume 1 adaptation and artwork by Gou Tanabe, translation by Zack Davisson

H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, The First Volume adaption and artwork by Gou Tanabe, translated by Zack Davisson

Dark Horse, 2019

ISBN13: 978-1506710228

Available: Paperback, Kindle, comiXology

In this Cthulhu mythos tale, an expedition team from Miskatonic University headed by Professor William Dyer travels to Antarctica early in 1931. Lake, a member of the team, becomes increasingly obsessed with discovering the secrets of a rock sample they excavate early in their exploration. He leads a separate team to push forward to find more. They find looming black mountains, seemingly unnaturally formed caverns, and a complete zoological sample of a large creature that resembles a creature described in the famed Necronomicon housed at Miskatonic University. As scientists are wont to do, Lake dissects the specimen. The two camps had been communicating regularly via radio contact, but when Lake stops responding, Dyer and the rest of the team make the trek to Lake’s camp. When they arrive, however, they come across a grisly scene: the crew and sled dogs assigned to the camp are dead, and the bodies are mangled or dissected. The team also finds a star shaped mound of snow near the scene which turns out to contain an inhuman discovery. After recovering the remains of eleven bodies, they find that one of the members of Lake’s camp, Gedney, is missing.

Volume 1 of Gou Tanabe’s manga adaptation of H.P Lovecraft’s novella At the Mountains of Madness is a beautiful and haunting version of this story. Tanabe’s artwork is an interesting and effective balance between the darkness of the caves and confined spaces to vast and breathtaking landscapes. A major difference, which I found to enhance the story, was that it was told from the point of view of both camps. The original was told from the perspective of only the main camp. This, combined with the added dialogue between the camps and artwork depicting the emotional reactions of the characters involved, created more of a sense of fear and foreboding than Lovecraft’s work. I can’t wait to see what Tanabe does with the continuation of this story in Volume 2. I would recommend this title for those who enjoy cosmic horror, manga from the horror genre, or different interpretations of Lovecraft (even those that he clearly based off of other works—in this case, Edgar Allan Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket). If you are a purist, this probably isn’t for you. Highly recommended.

 

Contains: corpses, dissected human body

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on October 2, 2019 by , Reply

Graphic Novel Review: Harrow County Volume 2 by Cullen Bunn, illustrated by Tyler Crook, Carla Speed McNeil, Hannah Christensen, and Jenn Manley Lee

Harrow County, Library Edition, Volume 2: Snake Doctor & Family Tree by Cullen Bunn, illustrated by Tyler Crook, Carla Speed McNeil, Hannah Christensen, and Jenn Manley Lee

Dark Horse, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1506710655

Available: Hardcover, Kindle, comiXology

There is so much happening in this second library edition of Harrow County. Eighteen-year-old witch Emmy Crawford feels alone in the world in terms of her abilities, but a group of strangers appear in Harrow County claiming to be her kin. Emmy learns more about her past, opening more questions for her and the reader. Cullen’s storytelling is brilliant, in that the more we find out about not just Emmy, but her friend Bernice, the more intricate and entwined their stories become. I find myself wondering about the future of these young ladies and what their relationship will look like in the future. Finding out more about Hester Beck has also been intriguing. She is a terrifying figure to be sure, especially since we get more than just a glimpse of what she was capable of.

The reader meets the first of these beings when the skinless boy, Emmy’s familiar, is taunted and hounded by a long haired man, Levi, who kills a bird to play it as he walks along. He talks of pickled pigs’ feet being no substitute for his favourite meat, long pig. Levi coaxes the skinless boy to find his home, discovering what he is and who created him. Clinton and Bernice discover there is another witch in Harrow County after the former’s Uncle Early starts acting strangely after confronting a cottonmouth in the berry bushes. When his uncle ends up missing, Clinton goes to Bernice to help find him out at Old Lady Lovey’s cabin. What she finds out about herself in the process will help protect the people of the county. Emmy ventures to Creech’s County after hearing rumors about a haunted house where the children are hunted by something that wishes to do them harm. She soon discovers there is more to the house than she and the family originally thought. Emmy and Bernice hunt for a lost Clinton in the corn field, only to be attacked by the scarecrows. After Bernice is able to fend them off with the help of a gift from Old Lady Lovey, they come face to face with Levi and a hypnotized young Clinton. They are led to the spot by bloody footprints, who Levi introduces as Mildred. He insists they are related to Emmy, but she is a hard one to convince. When he takes her to meet the rest of her kin, her decision to go with him could mean the destruction of Harrow County.

This library edition collects volumes three and four of Harrow County and includes a sketchbook with notes by Crook, McNeil, and Christenson, essays, and more. The short comics under the title “Tales of Harrow County” written by Tyler Crook with art by David Ruben, the amazing Kate Leth, Kel McDonald, Brian Hurt, Matt Kindt, and Jessica Mahon, are a great addition to the second library edition.

Contains: some blood and gore

Highly recommended

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on October 1, 2019 by , Reply
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