Review - Who Needs the Moon #1


"It's a darker loneliness now though."

Being a werewolf is hard enough without having to be a writer as well. Oh, and vampires. Needless to say, that's just what one unlucky soul finds himself trapped in the middle of in Who Needs the Moon #1.

The first issue is written and illustrated by Todd McCullough.

Ethan Ronald is putting together a good picture of Kingsford. Posing as a writer he's getting closer to the full moon and on that night he'll attack the vampires. Of course, vampires themselves are a wily bunch and tend to have an inkling of suspicion when something is afoot. What unfolds is a game of cat and mouse (wolf and bat?) pitting the two supernatural heavyweights against one another.

McCullough is writing about two subjects one could argue are played out in werewolves and vampires, but his approach is more about the setting they exist in. The way the first issue is written is very suspenseful in a way. McCullough pits the two against one another only once in the course of the issue, primarily to set them up as adversaries. The rest of the issue is told form Ethan's perspective; one of loneliness and sorrow. It reads with heavy brooding and a darker undertone, slightly belied by the illustration style.

McCullough's style is a little juvenile in appearance. It's definitely not bad, but it's a little cartoony for the subject matter. The thing is though that it works. Ethan's emotions are shown as exaggerations in a form of caricature; his sadness is gloomy and his happiness is chipper. The art style depicts a sliding scale of feelings and gives reader a bit more insight into the happenings in the town. What's more is that the vampires aren't shown as monsters and you never even see a werewolf, adding into the issue's intrigue.

Who Needs the Moon #1 is a very interesting mix of werewolves and vampires. It's almost as if someone wrote an Archie story about the two beings. McCullough paces it very well though and relies on the unknown to carry the suspense, offering readers something to be worried about off the pages. It's an intriguing first issue and--if the second issue reveals more about the impending battle between the two factions--could be a fun series.

Who Needs the Moon #1 is available on comiXology now.

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