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Graphic Novel Review: The Glass Scientists, Volume 1 by S.H. Cotugno

Cover art for The Glass Scientists, Volume 1

The Glass Scientists, Volume 1 by S. H. Cotugno

Razorbill, 2023

ISBN-13: 978593524442

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle

Buy: Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

 

The Glass Scientists is a webcomic created by S. H. Cotugno. Set in 19th Century London, Dr. Henry Jekyll founds The Society for Arcane Sciences, a place where mad scientists prove they are more than just that. They can thrive in an accepting environment where they can conduct their experiments without fear of interruption, defy laws of nature while in a safe area, and make friends while doing it. London isn’t the ideal environment for these eccentrics, with officers of the law and other officials concerned about their practices after the Frankenstein incident. With mobs taking it into their own hands, or pitchforks and torches, to hunt down what they don’t understand, Dr. Jekyll has his work cut out for him in trying to improve public opinion, as well as keeping up the morale of the scientists within the walls of the Society. There is also the new play debuting right across the street, allegedly based on the “very real” story of Dr. Frankenstein and his Creature, just as Dr. Jekyll is about to show everyone the value of the Society within London.

 

So many things are against the good doctor. His own alter ego, Edward Hyde, is hellbent on running amok, and nearly causes the complete dissolution of the Society for Arcane Sciences. The Creature arrives, carrying the very doctor who created him, Dr. Frankenstein: both prove to be quite different from the little play going on across the street. Things spiral further out of Dr. Jekyll’s control, and his once loyal friends and colleagues begin to turn against him. Their search for the mysterious and dangerous Mr. Hyde is yielding no results: Dr. Jekyll, having shut him into the deepest corners of his mind, thinks them both safe. He is terribly wrong.

 

I enjoyed this interpretation of the Jekyll and Hyde tale. Rather than being fully separate from each other, each knew the other was present. They could hold conversations together and understand each other’s thoughts and motivations. The transitions between Jekyll and Hyde’s dialogue were easy to follow, as the text was white against a black field when Hyde was communicating in the doctor’s head. Dr. Jekyll could also allow Hyde to take over for a time, with Jekyll’s tall brunette gentlemanly figure turned into the green-eyed, blond-haired, unkempt Hyde. You know mischief will ensue with Hyde around. The Society’s lodgers are a great addition to the story. Newly discovered werewolf Jasper Kaylock, manager and cook of the Society Rachel Pidgley, and Dr. Frankenstein are fantastic characters. A few examples of the Society’s scientists are Miss Lavendar, a Junior Extremofaunic Zoologist; Dr. Ranjit Helsby, Exploratory Bathynaut; and Dr. Maijabi, Ectoplasmic Pathologist. I loved all of them, but I won’t list them all here.

 

The artwork in The Glass Scientists is crisp and the colours are wonderful. Volume One collects Chapters 1-7 of the webcomic and includes a short story, “The Creature and the Coffeehouse”,  as well as“The Vault,” which includes a brief history of Cotugno’s creative process, and additional materials. The story contains LGBTQ+ themes and characters, making this an inclusive title. The creator recommends the comic for ages 13 and up. The creator of one of my favourite shows, The Owl House, wrote a blurb for the first volume, which gave me a hint that I would enjoy it. Highly recommended.

 

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

 

Posted on November 20, 2023 by , Reply

Book Review: Ladies of Gothic Horror: A Collection of Classic Stories edited by Mitzi Szereto

Ladies of Gothic Horror: A Collection of Classic Stories edited by Mitzi Szereto

Midnight Rain Publishing, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1794556317

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

Next time someone says that women can’t write horror fiction, point them to this book. In Ladies of Gothic Horror,  Mitzi Szereto has collected 17 stories by women writers of the 19th and early 20th centuries that will creep you out, chill your bones, and check the locks on your doors.  While some names may be more familiar to readers of supernatural fiction, such as Mary Shelley, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, many of the stories are by women writers better known for other works: Edith Nesbit is chiefly known for her children’s books, Elizabeth Gaskell for her social realist novels, Edith Wharton for her novels about the American upper class, Virginia Woolf for her modernist and feminist writings, Helena Blavatsky for her theosophical and occult work. Szereto follows each of the stories with a detailed biographical note about the author, when that information is available (very little is available on Eleanor F. Lewis, who evidently wrote only two stories– it’s too bad she didn’t write more).

Many of these women were supporting their families by writing for magazines, and their writing can be dramatic, depending on stereotypical characters, but they also skillfully build suspense and atmosphere, administer retribution, and illuminate tragedy.  Standout stories include Gertrude Atherton’s “Death and the Woman”, which manages to create dread and suspense without ever having the main character leave her husband’s bedside;  Edith Nesbit’s “Man-Size in Marble”, in which a newlywed husband discovers why you should pay attention to your housekeeper; Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s “The Cold Embrace”, in which a young man learns that having your fiancee return from the grave is not actually romantic; Edith Wharton’s “Afterward”, in which an American couple discover that an English haunting is no joking matter; and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s famous “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Elia W. Peattie’s “The Room of the Evil Thought” and Eleanor F. Lewis’ “The Vengeance of a Tree” are brief, terrifying stories of strange hauntings. Helena Blavatsky’s “The Ensouled Violin” is positively gruesome. The collection ends with Virginia Woolf’s “A Haunted House”, a much lighter piece than the rest, that provides a satisfying conclusion.

Ladies of Gothic Horror does a valuable service by spotlighting supernatural and gothic works by women writers better known for other work and by introducing some of the 19th and early 20th centry women writers of supernatural fiction that can still be found in print (some, like Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s The Wind in the Rose-bush, are even available free on Kindle).  While there are a few writers, like Eleanor F. Lewis, who may have been previously unknown, this book makes a good starting place for further investigating works by women writers of supernatural and gothic horror from the time period. There are few other anthologies similar to it that are still in print, although I expect we will see more now that people are discovering women writers of horror through the just-released Monster, She Wrote by Lisa Kroger and Melanie Anderson, which we recently reviewed.  Ladies of Gothic Horror is a great opportunity for widening your horizons and experiencing the chills, suspense, and terrors, that can be found in these women’s works. Highly recommended.

 

 

Posted on September 18, 2019 by , Reply

Graphic Novel Review: Jenny Finn by Mike Mignola and Troy Nixey, art by Troy Nixey and Farel Dalrymple

Jenny Finn by Mike Mignola and Troy Nixey, art by Troy Nixey and Farel Dalrymple

Dark Horse, 2018

ISBN: 9781427606754

Available: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, comiXology edition

A mysterious girl, Jenny Finn, arrives in Victorian England and leaves death, destruction, and a strange curse in her wake. There is a plague causing gruesome lesions in the crooked streets of London. Joe, a slaughterhouse worker, aims to find out what’s going on in his city. When the pursuit of his investigation leads him to Jenny, Joe is attacked by a religious zealot named Hornsbee who attempts to kill her, and has a number of strange and disturbing encounters: a serial murderer bent on wiping out the “ladies of the night” is loose, the ghosts of the murdered women roam the streets, and mutated half-human, half-fish people devote themselves to Jenny Finn. Pippa Platt, who clearly loves the oblivious Joe, takes him to a séance to see if a group of spiritualists can help him track down Jenny and what is happening in the town.

I liked this story for several reasons. The Lovecraftian tone and the Victorian setting were essential elements for this kind of tale. The griminess of old London and themes of punishment, forgiveness, and doom are exactly what I like in my horror. The art for this volume fits with the story well. Sequential art that includes body horror has always been a draw for me. The hybrid humans in particular are interesting in these pages.

While Jenny Finn does not compare to the Hellboy mythos, it is an interesting tale with great artwork. If you enjoy Lovecraftian tones, Victorian settings, and body horror, this would make a nice addition to your collection.

Recommended

Contains: body horror, nudity, implied rape, sex

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on April 10, 2019 by , Reply
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