Fall of the Wolfmen is a 70 page comic, written by Dave West, with artwork by Andy Bloor. The title is released by Accent UK, and is a sequel to their 2008 release, The Wolfmen.

The title is available to order from http://www.accentukcomics.com/, for the price of £3.90, $5.95, 5 Euros, or 35Kr (Danish). It is also available through the January 2011 issue of Diamond’s Previews magazine, for comics shipping in March 2011 (order code = Jan110891).

Being the second part of the storyline, it’s pretty difficult to review just Fall of the Wolfmen on its own. Therefore, this will really be a double review of both the original Wolfmen, and Fall of the Wolfmen together.

The Story:

[May contain some slight spoilers]

In the first Wolfmen book, we are introduced to Jack Grey, a small time crook whose chance to enter the big leagues comes along one day, when he’s asked to do a bank job with the city’s most notorious gang, The Wolfmen – so named, because they wear ferocious wolf masks on the job, to hide their identities, and strike fear into the hearts of their victims. As the bank job turns nasty, and people start to die, Jack realizes that he’s not cut out for this life, and feels like a small fish in a big pond. After the job is completed, Jack is invited to join the Wolfmen on a permanent basis, which is when the story takes a supernatural twist, as the gangsters reveal themselves to be real Wolfmen, as in Lycanthropes. In horror, Jack strikes out at the villains, and tries to escape their clutches. His efforts are all in vein though, as he is shot down, and left for dead.

Little do the Wolfmen know, but during his escape, Jack was infected with the lycanthrope virus, and as the first book closes, he rises from the dead, and plots revenge on his former partners.

The second book picks up the plot shortly after the close of the first, with Jack now on a quest of vengeance against those who have destroyed his life, and turned him into a monster. Soon though, he finds himself stuck in the middle of a gang war between the inhuman Wolfmen, and the all too human Ghosts, the number two gang in town. It’s a vicious turf war that sees Jack’s former love’s life hanging in the balance, as his past comes back to haunt him. One by one, the Wolfmen begin to fall, but are the Ghosts who would replaces them, really any better?

The Review:

The Wolfmen, and its sequel Fall of the Wolfmen, is a gritty combination of crime fiction, horror story, and supernatural thriller. Its nearest comparison would probably be Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn. But where From Dusk till Dawn starts out as a crime story, and turns into a pure horror within the blink of an eye, Wolfmen is much more subtle in its approach. As the story begins, there is foreshadowing, and undertones of the mysterious, then even after the Wolfmen have revealed their true nature, the story remains firmly rooted in crime fiction. Grey’s mission to overthrow the Wolfmen is a classic vendetta storyline, which has new life breathed into it, courtesy of the supernatural elements of the story. As the story progresses, and new characters and story elements are introduced, they seem to enhance both the crime and supernatural aspects equally, creating a incredibly cohesive blend. For example, part way into the second book, we are introduced to the rival gang, The Ghosts, and while at first they seem to be just humans, the rational counterpart to the beastly Wolfmen, there is something about them that doesn’t sit right, like there’s much about them that is yet to be revealed. By the time the story closes, it feels like we’ve been granted a look at a rich world of supernatural crime, a world that we’ve only just seen a glimpse of, and that many secrets yet to be revealed. I can’t wait to read the third installment of the series, to see how it all comes together!

Dave West’s script for the story is just dripping with film noir stylings, and the influence of hard boiled crime fiction. The protagonist is tough, introverted, cool, cocky, flippant, and has a third person monologue that runs in exposition boxes throughout the story. It’s a gripping script, with a nice gritty feel to it, which really immerses you in the world of the story.

Andy Bloor’s artwork on the Wolfmen books is something truly wonderful to behold. You may not be overly familiar with Andy’s work, because most of it has been for Accent UK, and other places in the UK small press scene, but once you see his artwork in this book, you’re going to be wondering why US publishers aren’t knocking down his door for the chance to get him drawing their books! Bloor’s characters are so tough looking that they look like they could have been carved out of stone, all wearing stoic grimaces, and staring out of the page at you with their menacing glares. He works in black and white, with some grey tones thrown in, and brings each page to life with some generous, rich inking. In fact, on some pages, the scenes are so dark and shadowy, that it wouldn’t be hard to believe that maybe he started with a pure black piece of paper, and gradually erased the darkness to reveal the artwork underneath. It’s almost as if the art has been created from negative space. This produces a dark and gravely look that perfectly compliments West’s hardboiled script.

The British aren’t particularly renowned for Noir crime fiction, but The Wolfmen books could easily go toe to toe with anything from a US crime writer. With a strong and original plot, an involving and gripping script, and some intense and powerful artwork, Fall of the Wolfmen is a true Marvel of the British Small Press scene. Accent UK don’t release a huge amount of books each year, but everything they do release is always of an incredibly high standard. Last year, they won The Eagle award for best British black & white comic, for their astonishing Whatever Happened to the World’s Fastest Man?, and I have no doubt they’ll take it again this year for Fall of the Wolfmen! Trust me when I say that you need to get this book! Make sure to order a copy from your local comic store, or order a copy directly from http://www.accentukcomics.com/, it’s unmissable!

Oh, and I should also mention that it’s the book also an additional 7 Gallery pages with pin-ups from some fantastic artists, including: Mo Ali, Charlie Adlard, Gary Crutchley, John Higgins, David Hitchcock, INDIO  and Shane Oakley.

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