Monsterverse, 2011
$14.99 US
Trade Paperback. 104 pgs.
ISBN: 978-0983640509
Cover by Dan Bereton.
The initial popularity and attention garnered by
Flesh and Blood, Book One and
its subsequent success constituted one of the “feel-good” stories of
2011 publishing. The advance solicitation through independent comic
stores for
Flesh and Blood and
its promise of an original graphic novel that paid tribute to the
classic Hammer horror films was more than enough to grab the attention
of fear fans.
Flesh and Blood started the new year out by winning
Best Original Horror Graphic Novel of 2011 during the Third Annual Awards at ComicMonsters.com. Now in its second printing,
Flesh and Blood will also become available in bookstores nationwide via Bookazine, a large book wholesaler to book retailers and libraries.
Flesh and Blood, Book Two is
expected to be released in May 2012, initially through the same
independent comic store outlets that helped spread the word. In the
introduction to
Book One, Tim Lucas (editor of
Video Watchdog) makes repeated reference to the Hammer film legacy. Lucas claims that
Flesh and Blood is
“nothing less than the epic Hammer horror film that generations of fans
have yearned to see” and he calls it “the wish fulfillment of Hammer’s
fan base.” It’s a great prelude to the graphic novel itself; but it left
this reviewer a little apprehensive—wondering how
Flesh and Blood could possibly measure up to those expectations.
Flesh and Blood, Book One does
not disappoint. Page after page, panel after panel, the script and art
deliver on the promises and praise of the introduction. And it’s only
just beginning. After an exhausting and chilling start, there are three
more volumes to follow. This is an epic saga, and readers may wonder in
delight at what other terrifying treasures are yet to be uncovered.
There is a film-like pacing throughout which only enhances the memories
of those classic Hammer movies of the 1960s and 1970s. Reading
Flesh and Blood is
similar to holding the storyboards in your hand for a new Hammer filmic
fear fest. Viewing the gorgeous art of Neil Vokes is almost like
looking at animation cels. However, they are not simplistic in
appearance, and the work is more detailed. These are not cartoon
animation cels—more like adult animation cels where the images are more
horrifying, bloody, and also erotic. Both Hammer Studio’s bloody
tendencies as well as its suggestively sexual open-bodice female
characters are represented and recreated here.
Flesh and Blood‘s
writer Robert Tinnell humbly appreciates the growing fan reaction as
sales continue to climb higher. “I’m a fan myself,” he explains. “I love
horror in all its forms. When I began this ‘obsession’ with
Flesh and Blood I
hoped to craft a horror tale for the ages with literature’s greatest
iconic characters like they had never been seen before but also very
grounded in the Gothic traditions, atmosphere and exotic places these
characters and stories are known for. I wanted an epic sweep to how its
story builds across decades and centuries but always tightly centered
around the human side to every dark fall from grace or heroic triumph of
each of its ensemble of characters. It is quite a challenge to get a
proper balance to it all. Fortunately, to push and pull me at times I
also have the perfect collaborator in the superb illustrator, Neil
Vokes.”
Neil Vokes smiles devilishly when he hears this. “Sometimes it is
more like we really are monsters tearing at each other’s throats to get
to the end of a scene.” He laughs and explains further: “Bob and I have
been working together for several years now on many books (
The Black Forest, The Wicked West).
We don’t have to be nice to each other all the time because in the end
we want the same thing—which is the very best effort towards making a
moment pop with the right amount of big grand action or quiet nuanced
subtlety. Somehow, we’ve grown to know each other so well that we can
ride hell or high water through the wild parts of the creative process
and end up with something the fans enjoy. I am astonished at how
completely that
Flesh and Blood has
been embraced by the fans and greatly appreciate their kind
acknowledgments in the press and the passion they show for it at
signings. It is what keeps me drawing at my desk day in and out, trying
to do my best. I know the audience is out there, waiting for the next
book . . . and I don’t want to disappoint them.”
Robert Tinnel’s script pays homage to the genre and utilizes
characters and situations to the maximum in what Lucas referred to in
his introduction as the “epic juncture of Hammer’s great horror
franchises in one dramatic, compelling . . . ‘monster rally.’” Classic
characters as well as names of places will stir the memories. If you are
a fan of Hammer Studios, you’ll also recall the names of characters
matching those of actors, directors, and producers in Hammer history.
The artwork is incredible and the colors by Matt Webb are vivid. There
is much use of red and orange/blue and gray to outstanding effect—warmth
and cold, fire and ice, light and dark, passion and frigidity. Some of
the images seem as if viewed through eyes glazed over by blood. As drawn
by Vokes, Dr. Frankenstein resembles actor Peter Cushing. Dracula looks
like actor Christopher Lee. Carmilla reminds of actress
Ingrid Pitt. And Horst resembles the actor (Horst Janson) who portrayed Kronos in the classic
Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter.
There is a great but short reference article in the back of the book
with further information on some of the characters. This is followed by a
second story, to be serialized in future volumes. “Operation Satan” is
also very short, just three pages to set the stage for a story that is
described as a homage to another classic film series—The Quatermass
Trilogy. It’s also written by Robert Tinnell with black-and-white art by
Bob Hall, tones by Kerry Gammill, and lettering by Rick Lebo.
Plans are for continuing volumes to be released quarterly.
Flesh and Blood, Book One
begins in the sinister shadows and candlelight glow of Transylvania
with Dracula and Baron Frankenstein in the 1880s. Plans are to conclude
the epic in
Book Four
in the garish neon streets and darkened alleys of swinging London in
the 1970s with many tragic surprises and shocking twists along the way.
This is grand genre storytelling of supernatural terror with the forces
of light and darkness battling across time and in the most exotic
regions of this earth and perhaps . . . other worlds.
—Michael J. Clarke
