Comic Corner: breathing new life into the undead

Art by Ben Templesmith
Art by Ben Templesmith

‘Wormwood, Gentleman Corpse: Volume 1’ review

By Brittney MacDonald, Life & Style Editor

4/5

It’s not very often that you can combine the words “zombie” and “comedy” in the same sentence, but Wormwood, Gentleman Corpse offers just such an occasion. Too often I find that a series that attempts to merge the genres of comedy and horror must either resign itself to being campy, or fail miserably at fitting into both categories simultaneously. I was more than pleased to find that’s just not the case with this graphic novel.

Forged from the pen of Ben Templesmith, the artist behind horror classic 30 Days of Night, Wormwood follows the un-life of its eponymous character, a parasitic worm that inhabits a corpse. Together with his robot bodyguard Mr. Pendulum and a strip club bouncer named Phoebe Phoenix, Wormwood attempts to solve a slew of vicious murders apparently caused by something paranormal.

Filled with gore, nudity, and dark humor, the overall narrative of this volume had concluded by the last page, but it was filled with enough mystery to make me eager for the second book.

What I found most surprising is that, despite the fact Templesmith is known for his amazing artistic talents, the only place this graphic novel fell short was in the art. That isn’t to say that the art is not incredible—it is—but the impact of it is lessened by the repeated use of various artistic filters such as random lens flares and sporadically-placed diffused glows. As a whole, it makes the novel appear less organic, and stiffens the flow of the panels.

That minor criticism is the one con against a large list of pros. I would definitely recommend this title to most readers.