Category: Books & Comics

Werewolves set in type and inked in panels.

New comic “The Family Graves” explores what would happen if The Incredibles were all monsters

The Family Graves is a four-issue comic series from Timothy Bach and Brian Atkins (the former wrote it; the latter drew it) that explores the sci-fi superhero adventures of a family of monsters.

Together with his dysfunctional, mismatched family of monsters, Phil Graves, an alchemical engineer recently turned unpredictably shifting werewolf, must race across dimensions to collect a set of magical mirrors in order to stop a chronal vampire from devouring the space-time continuum and destroying reality. But can the family hold together even as reality falls apart?

The Family Graves is a book for anyone who loves monsters, family, and unabashedly fun comics! Although spooky, it’s more heroic than horror, combining big sci-fi adventure with a love of classic monster movies to create lots of supernatural action.

Timothy was kind enough to share the first issue with me, and I really enjoyed it. (You can read a 10-page preview of the issue’s middle act here, but fair warning – Phil doesn’t wolf out in these pages.) The logline proffered was “The Munsters meets The Fantastic Four, with a dash of Locke & Key”, but my impression was more like “The Incredibles, if Bob Parr was a self-absorbed tech billionaire werewolf whose monster family tolerates his sci-fi bullshit while consistently outclassing him.” Phil, you need to spend less time looking at your floating orange screens and more time with your family and / or as a werewolf. And figure out your damn bloodwork!

The art has all the flash and colour of a superhero comic, but the monstrous aspects of the cast’s designs are rendered with an eye for creature-based horror, and there were a few little details that made me smile every time I saw them. There’s something very funny and good about a zombie infant with perpetual bags under his eyes.

Story-wise, I was more engaged than I expected to be, as a person who doesn’t really get into superhero comics. I was especially happy to find no explanation for why the immediate Graves family contains so diverse a cast of monsters (werewolf, gorgon, siren, merman and zombie). They’re monsters, and that’s fine. I don’t need an origin story for characters I’ve just met. Whatever happened to them doesn’t seem to be unique, either. There are plenty of supernatural creatures in background roles, which lends a pleasantly brisk in media res feeling to the story’s world.

The first issue comes out in real, tangible form on September 19th (order it from your local shop with Diamond code JUL182141). You can get all four issues right now from Source Point Press, or digitally from Comixology and DriveThruComics.

Jul. 24th 2018

WV06: Werewolves Versus Fashion

After weeks of work, I’m very proud to announce that the six issue of the collaborative werewolf magazine I edit and produce is out! All 149 pages of WEREWOLVES VERSUS: FASHION are here for your enjoyment, at the low low cost of $0 (or whatever you want to pay, and since it took a lot of work and all the contributors get a slice, I entreat you to consider paying something).

This is an art-centric issue, containing over 45 hi-res images – mostly monstrous portraits and fashion pin-ups, but also a 12-page comic guest starring me as “Candace Locke, from the Bureau”. I also received a number of short stories (and one poem) that were just too good to pass up. Check out the cover, the pitch, and contributor list below. If you’re intrigued by the idea of werewolves embracing and / or literally destroying haute couture, check it out!

Everyone can look great in a tailored suit or a stunning ball gown, even when you’re eight feet tall and covered in fur, but the true value of fashion isn’t how it makes you look, it’s how it makes you feel. It can crush you with unrealistic expectations, give you the strength to carry on when things are desperate, or empower you to bite the startled head clean off the shoulders of your enemy.

Our sixth issue is a double-sized look at the claw-throat world of lycanthropic haute couture – a realm where the fabrics are dark to hide the blood, enchanted stretch materials can make you a legend, and fur is most definitely still murder (especially when it’s your own).

Featuring over 45 pieces of hi-resolution original art and over 32,000 words of werewolf fiction and poetry from these contributors:

…plus lethally stylish cover art by Ben Geldenhuys.

Jul. 3rd 2018

“Primal Progeny” – a Werewolf Horror Series by S.L. Mewse

S.L. Mewse has long been a friend of Werewolf News. She’s an artist, she’s got a long-running interview series featuring people from the werewolf community (including yours truly), and she’s a prolific author whose work focusses predominantly on werewolf horror. I’m so delighted to thank her for sponsoring the site for the month of May with her Primal Progeny series of books.

Hunter Dalton had a harder start to life than most. At less than five years old a terrible creature stalked into his home and took the lives of his parents, departing only once it had eaten its fill; leaving him for dead. Miraculously he survived, and for decades lived a peaceful life troubled only by carefully managed monthly transformations… But it was not to last.

The return of the beast threw his life into turmoil, opening up a world he never knew existed. Suddenly he was no longer a lone werewolf adrift in the stormy sea of humanity. Werewolves and other shapeshifters were everywhere, and he was plunged headfirst into their society with the kidnapping of the only true friend he had ever had. With time running out he was forced to make a choice, go it alone or step in with the pack. He had no choice, and so his world was changed forever.

Appropriately savage cover art and samples of the three books are available in Mewse’s bookstore, as are links to purchase each from Amazon or Smashwords. The series (and her other books) have stellar ratings on Goodreads, so if you’re looking for some new werewolf horror to sink your fangs into, here’s your next couple of weeks covered.

Thanks again to S.L. Mewse for sponsoring Werewolf News!

Apr. 30th 2018

Roman centurions get bit by a werewolf and create an “Empire of the Wolf”

From writer Michael Kogge (Star Wars), artists Dan Parsons (Star Wars, Game of Thrones) and David Rabbitte (Star Wars Insider) and colourists Rabbitte and Chris Summers (Spartacus: Blood & Sand) comes Empire of the Wolf, a graphic novel about an alternate history in which the banana bread that was the Roman Empire got garnished with the chocolate chips of lycanthropy.

During a vicious battle with the wolf-king Caradog, two Roman centurions fall victim to the werewolf’s bite. Now, as werewolves, Lucius and Canisius are cursed to relive the legendary feud between the wolf-brothers Romulus and Remus. As their hostility grows, a war erupts that will not only decide the fate of the Roman Empire, but also threatens to claim the life of the woman they both love.

Empire of the Wolf is published by Alterna Comics, who have a landing page on their site with a 5-page preview, but curiously, no link to purchase the graphic novel in any format, and no way to find more information. This title is from 2014, so the page might have been orphaned through subsequent updates.

Don’t worry, though, I got you some links: you can buy it in physical or Kindle formats from Amazon, or digitally through comiXology. You can also follow the project on its Facebook page, which has artwork and relatively current signing event info.

Mar. 28th 2018

Pure of Heart – werewolves, royal intrigue, & paranormal romance gone wrong

I only read a handful of comics anymore, and Pure of Heart is at the top of that list.

Human-werewolf relationships are always tricky, especially when the werewolf is heir to the throne. After years married to the prince, Penelope falls for another human – shame he’s a bit of a loser. Things get messy when they find themselves embroiled in the midst of royal intrigue, and dealing with an unplanned pregnancy. Can they overcome danger and their own issues to give the baby a chance? Pure of Heart is a comic about aristocratic werewolves, human weakness and scheming siblings.

Pure of Heart is free to read, but $1+ Patrons get the full experience; with color pages several weeks before everyone else, high-res PDFs, plus a shedload of other perks, there’s no better way to support the comic. I’m halfway to my first goal, at which point Pure of Heart will become twice weekly, so every dollar helps!

The comic’s creator, HamsterToybox, has been drawing great werewolves (and other things) for years. Just look at this big jerk! It’s wonderful to see her idiosyncratic lycanthropes coupled with captivating serialized storytelling.

She’s not kidding about the shedload of Patreon perks, either. I jumped in at the “get a cameo in the strip” level and was very pleased with the result (here I am getting my coffee knocked out of my hands) and the behind-the-scenes art and coloured pages are such a pleasure to see. Patreon support, though recommended, is not a requirement to enjoy Pure of Heart – just visit pureofheartcomic.com.

My thanks to Pure of Heart for sponsoring Werewolf News for the month of March!

Feb. 28th 2018

Roald Dahl’s “Revolting Rhymes” animated shorts features very stylish wolves

Roald Dahl’s collection of delightfully messed-up fairy tales has been adapted from a book into two half-hour animated short films directed by Jakob Schuh Jan Lachauer and narrated by Dominic West. The meta-story surrounding the two short films stars a wolf (potentially Big and/or Bad), which is werewolf-adjacent enough to be posted here.

The characters designs are fantastic – a kind of mashup of Quentin Blake’s illustrations and Aardman-style 3D figurines. Lupine bias aside, I love the variety of depictions the wolf (or wolves) have.

Revolting Rhymes was produced by Magic Light Pictures (London), animated by Magic Light Pictures (Berlin) and Triggerfish Animation (Cape Town), and aired on PBS in the United States. The first episode, featuring a radical reinterpretation of Red Riding Hood and Snow White’s stories, is currently in the running for an Academy Award.

It’s available to stream on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, and you can obtain it on DVD or iTunes if you’d prefer something you can actually own.

Feb. 23rd 2018

Preview “Only the End of the World Again” (or, Werewolves Vs the Cthulhu Mythos)

Here’s a strange new graphic novel from Dark Horse Books to get your claws or tentacles on: a deluxe re-lease of Neil Gaiman’s “Only the End of the World Again”. Originally published in the late 1990s as a serialized story, Gaiman’s homage to Lovecraft and Roger Zelazny was adapted into a comic by P. Craig Russell, with art by Troy Nixey and colours by Matthew Hollingsworth. This 154-page hardcover edition contains the original comic and a ton of supplemental material.

From the Hugo, Bram Stoker, Locus, World Fantasy, and Nebula award-winning, and New York Times bestselling writer Neil Gaiman (American Gods), this fantasy story blends the worlds of H.P. Lovecraft and Roger Zelazny. This new edition of Only the End of the World Again features a brand new cover, in a new deluxe hardcover format; with bonus material including high res scans of the inks and layouts.

The story features an adjustor, Lawrence Talbot who recently sets up shop in Innsmouth only to discover that the world may be ending and that the instrument of destruction is a werewolf.

100 pages of bonus content for a 54-page comic seems like a fair bit of padding to me, but I can’t deny the appeal of a werewolf + Innsmouth mashup. This review from Adventures in Poor Taste makes it sound like a worthy investment for fans of lycanthropes or the Deep Ones alike. You can pre-order it on Amazon for an early February delivery, or find it in your local comics shop right now!

Here’s the cover again, plus the first five pages:

Jan. 26th 2018

Make some “Evil Friends” with Tatum Howlett’s nasty new werewolf comic

This self-published comic by Tatum Howlett contains gratuitous murders, two counts of reckless driving (drunk; werewolf transformation) and some very cool werewolf designs. You can download a PDF for any price you want, including free, but I recommend that you pay at least a dollar for it because c’mon. C’mon.

a full, black & white, 31-page comic about werewolves and subtle nihilism!

you can download the .pdf for $0 or as many as u think it deserves, i’m not worried about it. just read it bro!!!!

Nice work, Tatum. You definitely captured my experience as an aspiring novelist – I too constantly check the fridge instead of working on the manuscript.

Jan. 22nd 2018

Werewolf woman versus zombie Templars in “Ascension of the Blind Dead!” comic

David Zuzelo is a writer who did some comics work in the 2000s and early 2010s and then virtually disappeared, leaving behind a constellation of un-updated horror, pulp and exploitation media blogs. I was worried that perhaps something bad had happened, but nope, he’s still around and still clearly getting energized by pulp comics and cinema. He doesn’t seem to be writing or doing much in the way of public work these days, so I’m not going to link to his current haunt out of respect for his privacy. Instead, I’m going to share some pages from Ascension of the Blind Dead!, a gory, seven-page comic which he and artist Billy George published in the 2010 zombie anthology Zombie Terrors.

As near as I can figure, Ascension is a fan tribute and continuation of the 1970s Spanish-Portuguese horror film tetralogy. There are certainly a lot of eyeless zombie Templars here, but the focus is on a manipulative werewolf in search of an evil artifact. I won’t spoil the ending – you’ll need to head over to Zuzelo’s 2011 blog post to read the last three pages – but if he ever gets back into writing comics, I hope he continues with this story.

 

Jan. 21st 2018

“Night Shift” comic by Tandye Rowe shows why you don’t force a werewolf to work late

For our twelfth wedding anniversary, my wife Tandye surprised me by creating this four-page comic in which a fictionalized version of me works at a fictional job and runs into a little problem with a fictional asshole boss. It’s called “Night Shift”, and I got her permission to post it here for Werewolf News readers to enjoy. You can check out a preview page below, and you can download it as a PDF here:

Tandye Rowe – Night Shift.pdf [12.7MB]

If you’d like to see more of Tandye’s monster art, you can check out her Redbubble site, where many adorable killer creatures lurk.

Dec. 18th 2017