There’s nothing new I can say about Lenore. It’s one of those properties that have been around so long that it’s exhausted every compliment and even every criticism. Which is strange right? I mean it’s still doing new things and yet there’s nothing new to say about it? Well let’s try shall we? Pink Bellies is the biggest volume of Lenore ever. I don’t mean in actual size as the hardcover is the same as the other volumes that Titan Comics has released. No I’m talking about the story. It’s the biggest ever. It has the biggest sequences, the longest running narrative for a story arc and oh yeah… Lenore and Taxidermy origins.

See that right there is what I’m talking about. How long has Lenore been around? But now we’re getting the complete (and I do mean complete) origin of the lead character. Not just, “this is how she came to be”, but the real story behind the why she came to be. And it’s goddamn fantastic.

This story is gut wrenchingly good. It gives you action, it gives you gore, dark humor, love, family and a pickle hat. A fucking pickle hat that I loved. I probably loved that thing more than Lenore and she really loved that hat. I dream of that hat… it’s glorious.

There’s nothing I actually want to tell you specifically about this volume of Lenore. If you’re reading Lenore then you basically already know what you’re getting. If you don’t read Lenore then you’re in luck because the entire story has been collected in trade and hardcovers so what’s your damn excuse? Because I’ll tell you right now you’re not too cool for Lenore, in fact this book is too cool for you!

What’s funny is that enough time has passed that people probably think this story is a hipsters kind of story. Hell it could very well be, but at its heart of hearts it’ll always be a gothic kid’s story that may or may not be appropriate for your young children. I don’t know how you’re raising your kids, but I’m reading mine Lenore so yeah… your move county.

I will comment on the art of this volume because it is some of Roman Dirge’s finest. He’s in his prime. In fact he’s been there for a long while and so every panel is beautiful no matter what’s happening in it. It can be a conversation or a character stuffed up the butthole of a bear. It’s all wonderfully illustrated and the coloring is some of the best in the industry.

At the end of the day there really isn’t anything new to say about Lenore, but it’s so much fun to talk about. It’s entertaining as hell and one of the few stories that can make me actually laugh out loud while I’m reading. Hell it makes me cry I’m laughing so hard sometimes.

Buy this book, if you don’t then you’re only hurting yourself and there’s like an entire Tumblr thread on why you shouldn’t do that.

Score: 5/5

Lenore: Pink Bellies Writer/Artist/Creator: Roman Dirge Publisher: Titan Comics Price: $17.99 Release Date: 2/4/15 Format: Hardcover; Print