Series: Genre: Publication.Date: July 15, 2014 Pages: 208 (Hardcover) Published By: Margaret K. McElderry Books Website: Emily Carroll Through the Woods on Goodreads My review copy:
Where to get:
A fantastically dark and timeless graphic debut, for fans of Grimm Tales, The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and the works of Neil Gaiman
'It came from the woods. Most strange things do.'
Five mysterious, spine-tingling stories follow journeys into (and out of?) the eerie abyss.
These chilling tales spring from the macabre imagination of acclaimed and award-winning comic creator Emily Carroll.
Come take a walk in the woods and see what awaits you there... (Goodreads)
So. Stinking. Cool.
I hadn't been privy to Emily prior to receiving this book form the publisher and shame on me for that! I flipped through the book to glance at the artwork and immediately fell in love with her talent. Her website allows you to view numerous pieces of her artwork and comics - I really loved The Prince and the Sea - and got me even more excited to read this collection.
Through the Woods contains a series of short comics that are all equally creepy and gorgeous. Her artwork is simply amazing and while the comics themselves don't take long to read, you will absolutely get lost taking in the details of each page. Her art is filled with blacks, reds, and grays that add to the spooky atmosphere.
Her dialogue is part of the artwork instead of the standard speech bubbles or blocks that are found in traditional graphic novels, which makes each page feel more like a work of art than a page from a graphic novel. Even the pages that contain mostly a black background with the characters in shades of gray are breathtaking to look at. The bonus of these pages is that she allows the reader to fill in darkness with their own imagination.
Some of these stores come across as nightmares. Like, Emily went around and plucked nightmares from random people and brought them to life through her talented artwork and story telling. Each story stands on its own, and some have endings that are open to a wide interpretation, but the last line of "In Conclusion" actually made me shiver:
And you must be lucky enough to avoid the wolf every time . . . but the wolf . . . the wolf only needs enough luck to find you onceNice ominous line to end on, isn't it? Sleep well, darlings.
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