Broken Frontier

This June Image Comics collects Dogwitch #s 13-18 as a "Season 3" trade paperback. Originally published by Sirius Entertainment between 2002 and 2005 Dan Schaeffer's cult series followed the exploits of Violet Grimm, an "exiled fetish-witch superstar". Broken Frontier's Tonya Crawford gives us the lowdown...

In the realm of the Banewoods Violet Grimm has trouble. Her enemies are after her and her sister’s murder remains unsolved.

Writer Daniel Schaeffer has created a heroine/anti-heroine for the Punk/Goth generation. Violet Grimm straddles the line between sexualized object and sexual rebel, heart and horror, power and powerlessness, responsibility and irresponsibility. Her world, her friends, and even her enemies are one tangled mass of contradictions. As this trade rounds out Violet’s journey will she finally find peace... or just Rest in Peace?

As the story opens, the living doll (literally – a living doll) Dolores had stolen Violet’s form in order to be human again. Beset by a demon, however, Dolores is forced to reverse the spell to let Violet handle the creature. The good news for Dolores and the living stuffed, toy dog Ralph is that the ploy works and Violet dispatches the demon. The bad news is that the mystical backlash from all the spells drops Violet like a rock leading to the now-dolly-again Dolores and Ralph to call for a doctor.

A doctor in the Banewoods, however, is a creepy affair and the woman who answers the call is creepier than most. Of course, this is because she is Elastic Head and she is determined to steal Violet’s strange power known as the Treacle. I guess I should mention that she’s also Violet’s sworn archenemy huh?

It is not only Elastic Head that Violet must contend with either. The wild witch has to deal with cannibalistic, goblin clowns and ultimately with the events that led to her being banished to the Banewoods and saddled with the title of "Dogwitch". Tied up in all of this as well is the murder of her sister Bluebell and the truth behind it.

Violet’s life is about to change forever but so are the lives of everyone else around her. The Banewoods will never be the same again…

Although this trade collects the last of the series it is surprisingly easy for an unfamiliar reader to just jump in. Schaeffer’s British voice comes through in a few instances but surprisingly, overall the comic crosses borders and boundaries nicely. There are cult, B-Movie sensibilities with the bombshell built Violet going above and beyond the shtick created by Elvira, Mistress of the Dark but there is heart here as well. The issue of ‘family’ comes up often – both with Violet’s attempts to deal with the death of her sister and with the odd ‘family’ created by Dolores and Ralph.

Schaeffer also infuses the story with 21st century youth culture ideals, freewheeling punk rock, cheap slasher horror, and sex. As much as Violet’s appearance is the aforementioned bombshell with fetishistic accoutrements Schaeffer goes past the surface and writes the character as a woman in charge of her own sexuality. It might be simple to write the whole thing off as comic book titillation and tease but the story crafted here does not let such judgments go by easily. There is pointed social satire among the lyrics of this song and not even an amplifier cranked up to "11" will drown that out. I will say, however, that Schaeffer’s characterizing our reality as the "nice, bunny world" is a bit of a cheap shot. There are many who can tell you that reality is not safe, it is not normal and by far not always happy.

All of the art for the series is also provided by Schaeffer, which is quite an accomplishment. He handles everything from horror to figures with an eye towards black comedy and hits the mark nearly every time. Even in black and white this world he makes is dark and creepy and funny and beautiful and over all stunning. And did I happen to mention it is as over-the-top as the characters themselves and a perfect fit for the series?

Dogwitch: Mood Swings takes the familiar, the funny, the horrific, and most of all, the insanity of our world and culture, wraps it up like a baseball and then knocks it so far over-the-top it clears the stadium and disappears from view. Like any good satire, however, it never loses sight of the heart of human emotion. Readers would never be able to understand or sympathize with all these crazy characters if Schaeffer did not give them familiar emotional touchstones. f you are in the market for something a little different, something that does not pull many punches, something a little raunchy, and a little ribald, then this just may be a trade for you.

Dogwitch: Mood Swings is slated for a June 2008 release from Image Comics priced $14.99.