‘Interesting Tymes’ Comic Review
Written by Dave McCluskey | Art & Lettering by Andrew Morrice | Published by Evil Moose Comics | Format: Paperback, 44pp
The comic Interesting Tymes begins with the reader in the care of Edward D’ammage, a delightfully pale fellow who is hosting the evening with six short stories of terror, excitement, adventure and horror. Starting with a story about Christmas, moving on to stories involving pirates and vampires, this strange collection of tales will delight and intrigue as you read them.
Written by Dave McCluskey, the stories in this comic are written in rhyming verse. I was very impressed by that fact that it was sustained throughout, apart from brief interludes with Edward, and it worked with the theme of the book as well. The rhymes give the stories an extra nuance that I think would be lost if they were written in a more normal format and it almost increases the magic, and horror, that is concealed within its pages. Although these stories may at first look like they are for a younger audience, on closer inspection you will find they are not. Apart from the murder and horror in the stories (I don’t think I will ever look at Father Christmas in the same way ever again) there is also a lot of risqué humour which definitely made me laugh, but would not be appropriate for younger eyes.
The art is by Andrew Morrice, who’s style fits the stories in Interesting Tymes. It almost looks like it is straight out of the pages of a sketch book, doodled onto the page mindlessly one afternoon. Don’t think I am saying that the art is bad though, quite the opposite as it still gets across the story very clearly depicting the darker, bloody and scarier parts extremely well. At the same time, it also keeps the stories light hearted and gives it a constant undertone of humour. In a way it is very similar to that which would be found in the comic pages of a newspaper but is sustained in a longer sequence which will you hooked from the start until the end.
I really liked Interesting Tymes. It took some well known stories, such as Little Red Riding Hood and put a spin on them, keeping it new and, well, interesting, living up to its name. Although there are moments where the rhymes don’t quite work, jamming up the flow of the stories a bit, each tale has its own unique twist at the end making those rare occasions forgiveable and worth reading.
Interesting Tymes is available now from EvilMooseComics.com