Todd McCullough’s brutal eight-part graphic novel concludes with two issues about arrogance, death, and the consequences of betrayal. Oh, and I get murdered by a werewolf in a cameo.
Yep, Who Needs The Moon? is finally complete. I’ll save my review of the whole series for when the printed collection by Under Belly Comics drops (which should be soon). Suffice it to say, issues seven and eight only strengthened WNTM?‘s “best ever” position in my personal comics pantheon.
In issue seven, Ethan’s rampage is concluded by means that underscore the fact that despite all of his pseudo-philosophical posturing while human, as a werewolf he’s just a big dumb animal. An extraordinarily dangerous animal, but one driven by instinct instead of intellect. The last two panels of this one gave me goosebumps and made it necessary for me to paw through issues 1 through 6 again to confirm a few things. And, because McCullough is a super nice guy, he gave me a cameo as Henry’s ill-fated son. Comic-me deserves what he got for trusting his asshole dad.
The final issue sees Ethan reconcile with his past and make some big decisions about his future. Whether he pays for the crimes of his past or those he’s committed during our time with him, I’ll leave for you to discover on your own. All I can say is that McCullough lands the story in a way that’s satisfying and, to me, uplifting – quite the accomplishment for a series so laden with horror and tragedy.
The artwork is energetic and beautiful, as I’ve come to expect from McCullough. But he makes some stylistic choices involving colour (or the lack of it) that, taken with the implications of Ethan’s transformation back to human, are exciting, haunting and heartbreaking.
It’s getting hard to resist the urge to turn this post into a review of the series as a whole, so I’m going to conclude by urging you to go check it out right now, either on Gumroad or Comixology. I’m sad that it’s over, but it’s an amazing read and a remarkable one-man achievement. Whatever he does next, werewolves or not, Todd McCullough’s got a dedicated fan in me!