Broken Frontier

Following an outbreak of vampirism, our not-at-all stalwart duo of Ridley and Falstaff stumble upon a funeral in the town of Hernesburg (mistaking the coffin’s occupant for an undead sort).  Though while vampires seem in short supply, something else haunts the woods within the town’s surrounding hills, and before anyone can stick a cork into Ridley’s mouth, our heroes are recruited to lead the town’s menfolk on an ill-fated monster-hunting expedition.  So into the woods they go, they go.  A very powerful spirit attacks, many die, our heroes run and live to drink another pint, the origins of the enemy are divulged, and the duo’s arch-nemesis, the warlock Orlok, makes his move.

Whew!  To say issue #2 of this wild-child story is cover-to-cover excitement would be an understatement.  The humor by Ryan Rubio remains a naturally woven-in thing, the characters and events stitched into a smooth-textured whole.  This book has been compared to Cemetery Man, and via that, that movie’s own influence: the Italian comic book Dylan Dog, though while the structure is undoubtedly the same (a slender rakish fellow with a stunted ugly fellow solving supernatural cases) the flavor and, most especially, its aftertaste, is due to a preparation all the creators’ own.

Cemetery Blues is far more coherent than any of its influences, and it also sticks to an unexpectedly epic underlying backstory.  Like all great cartoons, there’s a core villain, the wicked and seemingly immortal Orlok, who is the architect behind all of Ridley and Falstaff’s woes.  Each story is self-contained, and Haunting of Hernesburg is no exception, though little by little a grander scheme looks to unfold.  Such centralized, classic high-drama is a fresh take on this type of quirky horror-humor varietal, and Rubio and artist Thomas Boatwright manage to plunge it smack into the center of their creative pool without losing a drop of water.  All the humor remains, the eccentric movement to the scenes, the dry-wit dialogue, the situational farce, the actual, chilling and dangerous side to the horror itself.  Everything’s here and looking better than it ever looked in either Cemetery Man or Dylan Dog.

With the introduction of the central threat to the Hernesburg story in this issue, everything gets kicked up a notch, the action and the actual menace of the story superseding the humor to a degree (though it’s still here, and in spades).  For anyone unconvinced by the first issue, it’ll be near impossible not to return for the third and final after this second act.

Boatwright continues to dazzle eyes everywhere with his magnificent, thickly realized black-and-white pages, all awash in the non-colored equivalent of actual watercolor.  His abilities as a sequential storyteller are also equally superb, the characters and the moments never seeming rushed or slow and the timing of the humor never falling short, the body language and expression detailed and nuanced and pitch-perfect.  This issue also sports Boatwright’s unquestionably best cover to date: I want this thing mural-ized on a wall.  It’s frickin’ gorgeous.

So another awesome Cemetery Blues issue, go figure.  Probably the most surprising thing that Shodowline’s yet picked up and produced, though no one who peeks inside and notes the quality of it will ever wonder why.  One more issue to go in this current series, and I’m chomping at the bit to find out how it ends!  A truly thrilling horror story, and an honestly funny comedy adventure.  John Landis couldn’t have managed it better.

###

“The Haunting of Hernesburg” Issue #1 is available through Shadowline/Image, at all major comic shops nationwide.  And check out the book’s preview at newsarama and visit the creators at their forum or Myspace Page.

Due to this new mini's rousing success (the first issue is SOLD OUT), the original mini will soon be collected in graphic novel format, so keep your eyes peeled on Previews!