Gothic Romance; Fool Moon

Posted: Tuesday, March 20, 2007
By: Steve Saville

Cover of Gothic Romance; Fool Moon Writer(s): David E. Arhar
Artist(s): Raj Golay
Publishers: Penny Dreadful Press
From: net
Price: $1.00

This is the second ash can/preview from ‘Penny Dreadful Press’ that I have reviewed recently. The first, ‘The Faustians,’ I found to be less than totally convincing so I am happy to be able to write that I found ‘Fool Moon’ to be a far more satisfying experience. To the extent in fact that I implore Mr. Arhar to stop mucking us about with this seven page tempter and get the full comic published pronto.
This supernatural romance cum werewolf love story set in 1959 shows genuine promise and deserves to be released as a fully realised publication.

Visually the less crowded panels and the heavier use of black allows the dominant feature of each panel to stand out and as the art work is of a very high standard it deserves to stand out. This alone means that ‘Fool Moon” is visually more appealing that ‘The Faustians.’ True the night time setting means that the use of black is inevitable but its judicious use really provides a delightful contrast in many of the frames.

The fact that we are only dealing with two characters here means that even in the brief seven pages Arhar is able to indulge in some highly effective and convincing character development. The two lovers? quickly become believable characters. The uncomfortable and nervous Warren perspiring his way to a proposal and the sultry temptress Cindy who’s simmering sexuality is subtly emphasised by Golay’s art work that focuses on her shapely legs.

Structurally this introduction falls into two halves cleverly separated by a well timed extreme close up of the beast’s eyes. There is a nice twist to the traditional werewolf story and then a further twist at the end which leaves us drooling for more. In the end we are left bemused about Warren’s true identity, the hapless lover we met in the first two pages seems to have another side to him.

Cleverly constructed stuff this, the nice range of angles used compliments the structure to provide a nice ‘fullness’ to this preview.

As the cover says “All is fair in Love and Gore,” ain’t that the truth.

In a Word: Tempting.



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