Publisher: Image Comics
Story By: Simon Spurrier
Art By: Ryan Kelly
Release Date: 27th January, 2016

---

Werewolves are tricky. There have been many fairly hokey versions of them in all sorts of media, but equally we’ve had the joys of minds as deranged and diverse as John Landis and Ben Templesmith give us them in all their visceral glory.

It’s interesting to note that Werewolf movies were overwhelmingly popular in World War 2, the threat of the monster simmering below the surface of civilisation, and this seems to be a thread running through this rather interesting beast of a comic.

It’s a bold statement to use a line from Shakespeare as a title, and more so to follow it (behind a gloriously sinister cover) with a lengthy quotation from Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’; to me it always smacks of arrogance (unless it’s Star Trek, obviously) and would put me off straight away. But, I’m so glad it didn’t on this occasion – because this has serious potential.

By beginning with the end, we are immediately drawn into the caged eyes of the protagonist, Lou, and the horror of her recent experience as an unwitting part of a black ops team in Afghanistan. Jumping between this and her old life in London, and her present with her zoo keeper lover.

A great sequence discussing the nature of hyenas not only gives us a mundane backdrop to the horror unfolding but also sets up their spectacularly ordinary relationship in an anything but ordinary works. Tying it all together is Kelly’s reliably tight, energetic art and a series of tremendous palette contrasts from Nick Filardi that helps ground the sometimes disjointed narrative.

This is not flawless. The military characters, for now at least, seem paper thin. Sometimes, the framing intrudes on the storytelling. But this is a devilishly good read, and if my review seems evasive, it’s because I don’t want to spoil a right vicious treat for you.

Rating: 4/5.

---

The Writer of this piece was: Sam Graven
Article Archive: Geeking Out
You can follow Sam on Twitter

---