Werewolf By Night #1 - Comic Review

 

I'm going to be a bit honest before starting this review; I absolutely love the work of Derek Landy. His Skulduggery Pleasant series is one of my all time favourite book series, and when I got to meet him a few years ago it was one of the best author/celebrity experiences I've had. The guy is just lovely. That being said, I didn't pick the book because his name was attached to it. I didn't even see his name to begin with. No, I picked this book up because I loved last years Werewolf By Night TV special that was released, and wanted to see more of that.

In some ways this new one-shot does have some similarities with that show; namely the black and white art style that follows our titular protagonist, Jack Russell. Most of the book is presented in a beautiful, almost Gothic looking black and white art style with a few splashes of colour here and there. What tends to bring the colour, however, is his co-star, the ever wild and bombastic Elsa Bloodstone.

The book begins with Jack tracking down the evil Doctor Nekromantik, who has kidnapped a young woman from a village near his ancient castle. Jack has promised to find Nekromantik, stop him, and bring the girl home to her family. Unfortunately, there's a horde of undead between him and his goal, and Jack is forced to fight his way through them. Fortunately for him, he's not in this mission alone. High above the forest, inside a private plane, Elsa Bloodstone is making ready to launch her own assault upon Nekromatik.

Having stolen the plane from some vampires, who she gets to kill whilst in the air, Elsa blasts her way out of the plane and parachutes into the castle; making as flashy an entrance as she's able to. As the two monster hunters battle their way through Nekromatik's forces, they end up discovering each other, and team up; creating an unstoppable duo.

The first thing that needs saying about this book is that it's ridiculously fun. For those who've read Landy's Skulduggery Pleasant series a lot of the banter and jokey dialogue that's in the book will feel instantly familiar. There's a snappy quality to everything, and it moves at a wonderful pace. Elsa is, in a lot of ways, very similar to Valkyrie Cain here, and that absolutely suits her to a tee. It seems like Landy is at his best when writing snarky, bad-ass women and their sullen, monsterish partners.

The second thing that needs praising is the art. Fran Galan provides both the art and the colours on the book, and it's amazing to flip through and stare at. The book has this very gloomy, almost hand drawn and pencil shaded look to things, where the lack of colour and the simplicity of the art makes it feel like an old black and white monster movie of the 1930's and 40's. When Elsa turns up, however, she's bright and colourful, with gorgeous colouring work that pops on the page. Some of the best moments are when she's a splash of colour on an otherwise gloomy looking page, such as when she's falling through the sky towards the castle in the pouring rain.

Werewolf By Night is a fantastic comic. It has a simple, easy to follow narrative, yet manages to throw in some twists and surprises. The characters are fantastically written, and their interactions are great. And the art is just perfect for this. It's a shame that this is just a one-shot, as I can't help but feel an ongoing with this creative team and character pairing would do fantastically well; and would likely end up being one of my best comics of the year. As it stands, this is a near perfect one-shot that you're not going to want to miss out on.

Support Amy on Patreon

Buy Amy A Coffee

Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Instagram