The Darkness from Warsaw
Reviewed by R. Krauss
The Darkness from Warsaw
Reviewed by R. Krauss
Story by Bram Meehan
Art by Jamie Chase
Book design and lettering: Monica Meehan
66 b&w pages, plus color cover
6.73" x 10.25" perfect bound comic
Published by Panel Press
Printed at SIPS Canada
$6.95
Website: www.PanelPress.com
The Darkness from Warsaw is another entertaining comic from Meehan's Panel Press. It's a standalone story in the continuing Special Qualities Research Laboratory (SQRL) series that mixes espionage and supernatural science. This time out a former SQRL operative relates a mysterious case from her past involving a stockpile of European masterpieces collected during the Nazi occupation in WWII. Meehan's fiction is grounded in authentic history that he soon transforms into a compelling supernatural thriller that reveals a fascinating hidden world just beneath the surface.
Chase's illustrations are dark and moody, beautifully capturing the claustrophobic feeling of crowded European streets and the oppressive weight of the great war's destruction on Warsaw. The back of the book features a short section of character and location sketches with insights into Chase's creative process. It would be fun to see a similar glimpse into Meehan's plotting process.
The book's design is top notch with a nice mix of stark black-and-white images as well as those with grey tones. I particularly liked the shaded transitions between the past and present parts of the story.
A short bio of each contributor appears on the final page. All said, The Darkness from Warsaw delivers another great thriller from the SQRL casebook.
Take A Look Inside
Reviewer Bio
R. Krauss reviews small press and mini comics on Midnight Fiction, Poopsheet Foundation and Comic Related.
Name: Richard Krauss
email: arkay@midnightfiction.com
Been reading comics: since I started reading Marvel comics in Junior High School.
Review Bio: After several years I discovered titles like Zap and Bijou at a headshop and was seduced by the freedom and variety they offered. When the new-wave comix era sprouted from the seeds of the undergrounds, I quickly joined the ranks of other struggling cartoonists with phenomenally low print runs. After almost a decade of small press comix, I retired and made a solemn vow never to return. Several years later the Internet happened and over time many of my favorite new-wave cartoonists got online. The bug bit again and I started exploring the new crop of small press cartoonists. Today's explosion of small press comics is more exciting than any time I've ever seen.
Favorites: Papercutter, Not My Small Diary, Slam Bang, Comic Eye, stuff from Main Enterprises and Weird Muse, to name a few.
Website: MidnightFiction.com
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