Black Harvest Moon
Black Harvest Moon © Ros Garbles
| Black Harvest Moon script: Terry Stock art: Colin Stanford |
Sometime in the near future, Vampires take over the world (or at least most of L.A. ). Some red blooded Americans fight back, and a kind of civil war situation develops. Deep behind 'enemy' lines, an increasingly out of control group of vamps keep a town full of humans hostage, offering them protection in return for a regular food supply, taking just a little blood at a time from each person. Our nominal hero, Rob, is under the 'protection' of his recently returned from the dead girlfriend, Lisa.
Using this scenario as a template, writer Terry Stock creates a tense, intelligent adult thriller as anti hero Rob constantly switches sides to stay alive. The obvious comparison is Richard Matheson's classic novel I Am Legend (or the Charlton Heston 70's shlock movie adaptation The Omega Man), and while Black Harvest Moon isn't as good as these; it is probably the most interesting comic I've read in a while; certainly from the small press.
However, it does have problems: Initially, scenes skip about too much, and for the first five or six pages, it's hard to be sure what's going on. This is a comic that needed more pages to tell it's story, not less. Characterisation, once you've figured out who everyone is, is pretty good. And the ending's okay, tho' the last panel is self-consciously nasty, and unnecessary.
Terry does have a good way with hard boiled dialogue tho'. I particularly like: "The city changed hands and the introductions were over" as the vampires descend on humanity. Nice to read some proper writing in the small press.
Colin Stanford's pencils (as featured in the back of the mag) are really good to excellent. Unfortunately, and I really hate to say this, something went wrong in the inking stage. He has a firm grasp of figure work and facial expressions, he's superb at light and shadow, good at composition and camera angles, and, for the most part, knows how to structure a page. But he seems to have inked the whole thing in what looks like magic marker, obliterating any trace of nuance or depth.
There's a great scene where Rob and Lisa talk in a field of abandoned cars, Lisa floating four feet off the ground. I just wish it'd been inked with a decent pen. Colin's a good enough artist to deserve it.
Finally, I have to mention the cover. Terry and Colin do. They give a page over to the development of it. But (sorry guys) it doesn't work.
Unfortunately, like the rest of the comic, it's printed on the dullest photocopy paper that just flattens it. No one knows more than me how hard it is to fund your own comic, and as a cover it would've worked, but on card, and in colour. The overall feel is of striving towards professionalism, so it's a shame production values let it down here.
Having said all that, this is a seriously good (and very nearly great) comic, easily worth the cover price, and I'd definitely want to read something else by these guys. I'd recommend investing in it straight away.
Pete Doree
| Black Harvest Moon: 32 A4 pages. |
Received at ZUM! HQ: 31x02 |
£1 (+P+P?) | Barry Renshaw, Engine Comics, 8 Avril Close, Reddish, Sockport, SK5 6HX |