Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Jamie S. Rich
Artist: Megan Levens
Release Date: 7th May 2014

Former Oni Press Editor In Chief Jamie S. Rich has established himself as a writer of no small talent himself in the last few years. With a fine ear for dialogue and an eye for tight plotting, both honed no doubt at his old job, Rich has developed into a writer who’s work is always worth checking out and his latest, Madame Frankenstein is no different.

This new ongoing series is a beautifully told tale of one Vincent Krall and his obsession, to reanimate the corpse of his recently-deceased lover, where one would assume he expects them both to live happily ever after. Needless to say, things don’t go to plan.

Set in rural New England in 1932, there’s a pleasingly American Gothic feel to the world Rich is building, gorgeously brought to life by Megan Leven’s clean art. On the while, her clean, cartoony lines give the comic a real pop feel, but a heavy use of black ink with no shades of grey during some of the more dramatic scenes call to mind the intensity of Charles Burns and really set the grim mood brilliantly.

If you ever thought Pygmalion would have been improved by Eliza Doolittle being a reanimated corpse, this is the comic for you. As far as I’m concerned, there’s not many stories that reanimated corpses wouldn’t improve, so I’m all over this.

Rating: 4/5.

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The writer of this piece was: Jules Boyle