I think probably every one of us daydreams about being left an incredible inheritance by some wacky uncle we never knew we had. The possibilities! A huge manor house, piles of money, a family secret–it’s a recipe for intrigue and adventure, maybe even romance, or so the movies tell us. Michael Paris has found himself in just that situation: his solitary and eccentric grandfather has left him land in the town of Raven’s Hollow. After his less than encouraging first view of the town — there is a permanent, impenetrable cloud over the entire Hollow — Paris is greeted by a lynch mob, led by the town’s Mayor, desperate for him to sign over his inheritance. Confused but determined to see his property before agreeing to anything, he arrives on site, wheedling Mayor Wormwood and mob in tow. To his surprise, the land is in fact a graveyard. On top of that, the graveyard’s inhabitants are anything but lifeless — a cigar chomping skeleton, an erudite crow, a seductive sea-creature and a charming vampire among them — and they are determined to protect their home, come hell or high water. And it just might come to that. Enduring impressive bribes, embarrassing bouts of half-nakedness in front of suspiciously solicitous townspeople, and the good-natured jabs of the Boneyard’s critical denizens, Paris begins to see that evil may not be where he expected it. Maybe we shouldn’t trust the movies so much. Moore’s crisp black and white ink work and marvelous ability to nail facial expressions makes this upside-down story of “us-against-them” engaging, at times hilarious, and left this reader eagerly anticipating the next installment.
Boneyard, vol. 1
ISBN: 156163316X
by Richard Moore
NBM Publishing 2002
