Ghastly creatures of the night beware, High Moon is now in print.
HIGH MOON VOL. 1
Writer: David Gallaher
Artist: Steve Ellis
Summary: The first winner of Zuda Comics’ monthly online competition, HIGH MOON is a horror adventure of cowboys and werewolves in the Old West. HIGH MOON begins with a gruff bounty hunter, Matthew Macgregor, investigating a series of strange happenings in the dusty town of Blest, Texas. While Macgregor seeks to uncover the town’s dark secrets, he tries desperately to keep his own hidden.
The horrors of Blest ripple out to the mountainous town of Ragged Rock, Oklahoma, where another detective investigates a series of murders following a bizarre train robbery. Uncovering an age-old vendetta, this mysterious lawman is forced to do battle with a steam-driven monstrosity.
Macgregor’s tale concludes as a young woman’s dire call for assistance leads him through the Black Hills of South Dakota and into devastating battle between two warring factions. Macgregor must face down the United States government - only to discover a secret ritual that spells the destruction of the American frontier.
Review: Sparkly vampires and brain-chomping zombies can be found high and low these days, and the truly supernatural are often left in the dust. Well, reload those silver bullets, because David Gallaher and Steve Ellis’ High Moon brings back the terrors of folklore with werewolves, curses, and grisly demons that go splat in the night—at least when Macgregor’s around.
It all begins with a Texas kidnapping and a bounty for a wanted man named Eddie Conroy, a member of the Sullivan Gang. Matthew Macgregor wanders into a nowhere town in order to hunt down the criminal, but the reward isn’t his chief priority. When he strikes up a deal with the locals to find the missing girl in exchange for the promised fugitive, it doesn’t take long for the story to heat up and throw us into a world we barely recognize. Where things appear as normal as can be, there’s something dark and nasty dwelling beneath the surface—in more ways than one. Macgregor’s no ordinary bounty hunter, but a werewolf sworn to fight off his own kind. David Gallaher doesn’t give us all the answers at once, and he certainly doesn’t lay the plot out nice and neatly for the reader. Sometimes you’ll have your own detective work to do as more pieces of the supernatural puzzle come together, but instead of being frustrating and sloppy, the overall experience becomes something much more enriched. Not to mention where the premiere volume of High Moon starts is nowhere near where it ends.
Gallaher splits the narrative into separate but interlocking chapters which build upon the previous sections. As the comic unfolds, the stakes change and the story becomes more involved as new characters and vicious monsters are brought on board. The tale itself engages, but the real spark emerges from Steve Ellis’ gorgeous illustrations. From eye-popping character designs to colors that never cease in their richness, Ellis’ art will throw you into the middle of the chilling secrets lurking in High Moon. Together, Gallaher and Ellis craft a lush story oozing with darkness and intrigue that’s hard to resist. Take ‘em home, cowboy.
High Moon Vol. 1 is now available in print, and you can follow the ongoing series online at Zuda Comics.
Rating: 5/5
October 20th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
My copy is on order!