Writers: Ben Clark, Alexander Finbow, Richmond Clements, Dominic Finbow
Artists: Ben Clark, PJ Holden, Vicky Stonebridge, William Simpson, Kallista Meyers
Letterers: Sean Tonelli, Jim Campbell, Kallista Meyers
Editor: Alexander Finbow
Publisher: Renegade Arts Entertainment
Follow along with H.P Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as they room together and go on random adventures — ranging from catching a were-badger to getting kicked out of Comic-Con. The Spine Chillers is a humorous love note to the fathers of classic mystery and horror literature.
However, in some cases, the humor would be better situated in a television program. The punchlines to many jokes tended to come at the reader too quickly and can be missed completely. Reworking the panels so that the punchline was on its own may help the jokes land better.
If you are looking for an incredible graphic novel to look at and enjoy its sense of humor, maybe try another one. The Spine Chillers is not a great piece of art. But then again, it’s not meant to be. The art style is elementary, my dear Watson, (see what I did there?) lacking proper dimension and detail. But at least it is consistent in its simplicity. At times, Edgar Allan Poe’s mustache bothered me, and I wasn’t sure whether it actually was his mustache, or he just shaved and cut a strange line on his chin. Either way, sometimes he had a huge space between his mouth and nose.
Sean Tonelli does a great job on the lettering. It’s easy to read and doesn’t crowd the speech bubble borders. Sometimes, the lettering changes style and size to suit what’s happening on the page, but nothing too drastic to make me hate it.
In the end, this an easy-to-read book about the modern day adventures of classic literary authors. Do you like dry, British humor? Are you a fan of literary classics like Sherlock Holmes, The Raven, and The Call of Cthulhu? Perhaps you aren’t too particular about the art style? Then you had better pick up The Spine Chillers.
Visit the Renegade Arts Entertainment website to learn more.
