I read in someone’s twitter feed the other day that using the word “fun” in a comic book review was a bad thing. I don’t know exactly how that could necessarily be a bad thing. I can think of a lot of worse adjectives to use than that. How about “silly”, or “quirky”, or “expensive”? I was almost offended that apparently we’re not supposed to use that word anymore, but you know what, I’m going to use it anyway. Dept. of Monsterology is fun. It’s also well written and exciting and some of the best storytelling that I’ve come across from an independent publisher in as many years as I’ve been reading comic books. Gordon Rennie and PJ Holden have reminded me for the past three months why I got into comics in the first place. If I didn’t have an entire pile of stuff to catch up on and/or review, I’d re-read these books a couple of times a day. It’s just good ol’ honest to goodness fun. I can’t think of a better way to describe it. Basically, everything is going wrong for both teams. Challenger is under attack by a Cyclopean behemoth that threatens the lives of everyone onboard the Derleth, and Carnacki is still trapped underground between a rock and a hard place. Not to mention, Samwi could be the conduit for an unstoppable evil that could be the destruction for her entire team.
Gordon Rennie does a particularly good job with the script this month. I have to say that his dialogue for the members of Team Carnacki is really entertaining on multiple levels. There is a sense of seriousness that is felt throughout the book, but we’re never strapped down and slapped with depressing dialogue. There always seem to be these comedic breaks that keep us separated from just enough from the real world.
Now, humans are visual creatures. It’s a good thing, because I couldn’t imagine going through my entire life without being able to see the rare artistic talent of PJ Holden. His art works with this story so well that I’m starting to think that someone made a deal with the devil somewhere down the line. That’s fine with me, though. Remember last month when I said that his art looked familiar, and that it was a good thing? Well, I’m glad to say that I still feel that way. I’ve come to grow accustomed to seeing his drawings around the dialogue of these characters. I think that that is really saying something.
So in closing, I’m going to say that I can’t wait for the conclusion of this arc. I just know that it’s all going to be worthwhile in the end. Everything is going to come together. That’s all that any of us can hope for. Until next time.
Score: 5/5
Writer: Gordon Rennie Artist: PJ Holden Publisher: Renegade Arts Entertainment Price: $3.99 Release Date: 12/18/13