I did not read any of the original Lenore, the Cute Little Dead Girl comics when they first came out in the late 1990s and early 2000s. This 
is astonishing for several reasons. Chief among them was my being a Goth and comic nerd who came of age around that time.
Alas, despite being exposed to Sandman and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac through Lucy; the cute Goth grrrll who worked at the local comic shop, I somehow never learned that Lenore was a comic and not an icon created to sell merchandise at Hot Topic until several years later. By that point, the original comics were out of print and hard to come by honestly. Or even dishonestly.
I didn’t think much about Lenore until earlier this year, when I was asked if I would review the current Lenore series published by Titan Comics. I said I would like to, but I had never actually read the earlier Lenore comics. Lo and behold, they offered to send me a copy of The Bloody Best of Lenore and told me to get to work. So I did. And oh my badness I am even more astonished I did not read this before!
There is not much of a plot to Lenore, nor much continuity between the individual chapters. At least, none that matters beyond introducing the various characters. Lenore is a zombie who was about 10 when she died over 100 years earlier. She lives in a scary mansion with her two friends: Ragamuffin and Pooty Applewater. Ragamuffin is a vampire who was cursed and trapped in the body of a rag doll. Pooty is a bounty hunter, with a bucket for a head, who was meant to take Lenore back to Hell, but decided not to because that would mean he’d have to return to Hell too and he really didn’t want to do that. Because of it being Hell.
The comics center around them goofing off, reenacting various children’s nursey rhymes in a dark fashion, and dealing with various supernatural menaces. These range from the creepy mad coroner who wants to finish embalming Lenore, to the Creepig; an undead pig that kills all creatures who eat leftover pork products after midnight.
The artwork by Roman Dirge is deceptively cute yet disturbing. Dirge’s own recollection of their past is that their art teacher told them they would never find success as an artist. This inspired him to become a stage magician, a musician and, most shamefully, a comic book magazine publisher, before several empty pages forced him to fill the space with something. That something became Lenore and thus did an international nightmare begin
Fans of Tim Burton and other dark yet cute things are the ones most likely to enjoy Lenore. It should be noted, however, that the darkness here is very dark and Titan Comics rated this volume M for audiences 18 and up for a reason. There are disturbing images. There are dead baby jokes. There are numerous references to various bad things happening to Ragamuffin while he sleeps up to and including sexual assault. You have been warned.
The Bloody Best of Lenore
By Roman Dirge
Titan, 2017
ISBN: 9781785863042
Company Age Rating:Â M (18+)
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+)
