Revenge of the Werewolf Queen
Space Goat Productions 2017
Written by Micky Neilson
Illustrated by Jason Johnson
Coloured by Milen Parvanov
Lettered by Taylor Esposito
Folks this is not the time to be sleeping on or thinking that great comics can only come from the “bigger named companies” because little guys like Space Goat Productions have books out like this! For any true horror aficionado the Howling is a familiar name for those who may be younger and haven’t been exposed to it yet that’s okay read this then go stream the movie. There’s a reason i’m a huge fan of independent companies and it’s stories like this one that are huge reasons why! You need to be looking at these companies.
After reading this issue there was one thing that struck me and that’s that this isn’t your typical slasher horror werewolf story it’s got depth to it. It feels like the old time movies where the story was more important than the actual violence or gore. The buildup of what’s going on playing with your mind as you wait full of tension for the werewolf to come out and the bloodshed to begin. You just don’t find this kind of storytelling anymore and it is sorely missed. So kudos to Micky for what he’s able to accomplish right off the bat here.
I am more than pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to fall into the story here. It has been quite some time since I saw any of the movies or read any of the three novels and yet the transition to getting into the story here was seamless. Also that this picks up three weeks after the first movie is another bonus. It’s not trying to rewrite or replace anything it just continues the story from when Chris told the world that Werewolves existed and no one believed him.
Jason and Milen do some really strong work on the interiors here. It really has the classic comic book style feel to what we see and there’s also this muted colour to it that kind of harkens back to the days when movies were productions. The whole book has this spectacular look and feel to it and the way page layouts are utilised with their angles, perspective and yes even backgrounds we get to see the book and everything around it in almost cinemascope.
I may not know how many issues this is slated to be, but from appearances i’m going with four because the pacing is such that there isn’t any time wasted getting things started. We see what happens to some characters and the potential of what’s to come with others. Also while we see what could be we aren’t so sure that that’s what is going to be. It’s nice not to be able to tell what direction everything is heading and instead that a few possible avenues exist makes it more interesting for what’s down the road.
With an obvious love and passion for the original work and a desire to see it continued on in the tradition that it was started in this makes for a surprise gem hit of the week for me. This is well conceived and executed and should bring back classic horror, see psychological, into fashion.