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devinr's review
3.0
This was a cool little book. I have a weakness for Occult Westerns (yes, there are such things as Occult Westerns), and this one was a lot of fun. It told a three-part story with adventure, mystery, and some great plot twists that I didn't see coming. The book is populated with some great characters (I love each and every one of the MacGregors), and the art is pretty great too: loose and fluid, almost painted in some parts. I found the lettering to be a little small, it might have been nice to have it reprinted with another inch or so of page height and width, but that's a minor nitpick. Really, all that matters is that there were crazy adventures, horrific battles, and much more humour than I was expecting. I hope there are more High Moon stories coming in the future, because this really whet my appetite.
quirkycatsfatstacks's review against another edition
3.0
I received a copy of High Moon Vol. 1: Bullet Holes and Bites Marks from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
The cover art for High Moon immediately drew my attention to it – and that quality of art is maintained throughout. I honestly believe the artwork was the highlight of the graphic novel for me. It all appears to be hand drawn and inked, and done so in a beautifully striking style. The monsters (more on that later) are horrifyingly perfect and seem to almost jump off the page (or screen) at the reader.
I really wanted to love High Moon – the concept sounded interesting (werewolves and vampires meets the Wild West? Yes please!) and the artwork is absolutely stunning. Unfortunately on the whole I found myself to be less than impressed with it. I think it had a lot of potential, and with a little bit more work Gallaher and Ellis could have a thing of beauty on their hands.
High Moon is the sort of story that throws you right into the thick of things. We’re immediately thrown into a town that’s already having troubles – unfortunately given no time to know the main character (s) or understand their motives or reasoning. It made it difficult for me to get into the novel.
There were a few points where I actually had to go back and re-read a section, because I didn’t understand how we got from point A to point B (re-reading did not clear up my confusion). I felt this was particularly true during the fight scenes. While visually striking they were somewhat disorienting and confusing.
I still really love the concept of werewolves and vampires causing havoc in the Wild West – so I want to give the creators credit for this idea. It’s brilliant and has so much potential. I’m hoping that later volumes will spend more time on character development – that’s what this series really needs in order to start shining.
For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
The cover art for High Moon immediately drew my attention to it – and that quality of art is maintained throughout. I honestly believe the artwork was the highlight of the graphic novel for me. It all appears to be hand drawn and inked, and done so in a beautifully striking style. The monsters (more on that later) are horrifyingly perfect and seem to almost jump off the page (or screen) at the reader.
I really wanted to love High Moon – the concept sounded interesting (werewolves and vampires meets the Wild West? Yes please!) and the artwork is absolutely stunning. Unfortunately on the whole I found myself to be less than impressed with it. I think it had a lot of potential, and with a little bit more work Gallaher and Ellis could have a thing of beauty on their hands.
High Moon is the sort of story that throws you right into the thick of things. We’re immediately thrown into a town that’s already having troubles – unfortunately given no time to know the main character (s) or understand their motives or reasoning. It made it difficult for me to get into the novel.
There were a few points where I actually had to go back and re-read a section, because I didn’t understand how we got from point A to point B (re-reading did not clear up my confusion). I felt this was particularly true during the fight scenes. While visually striking they were somewhat disorienting and confusing.
I still really love the concept of werewolves and vampires causing havoc in the Wild West – so I want to give the creators credit for this idea. It’s brilliant and has so much potential. I’m hoping that later volumes will spend more time on character development – that’s what this series really needs in order to start shining.
For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
spoerk's review
4.0
Ok ok ok.
I'm friends with the author.
I really really really liked it, but it was a bit hard to follow. Hard to follow the story. Hard to understand what was happening and why.
But I still enjoyed it. (:
I'm friends with the author.
I really really really liked it, but it was a bit hard to follow. Hard to follow the story. Hard to understand what was happening and why.
But I still enjoyed it. (:
mlindner's review against another edition
1.0
This could have been great but it just didn't make sense. I read it because I heard an interview with the author on a D&D podcast on the topic of empires and empire-building.
The story just had ... "gaps." It would go from scene to scene and just. Sometimes even in a scene you'd be lost because little to no context came with the transition between scenes. I really wanted to like this but it just made little actual sense. You could piece together a decent bit of the overarching story across the length of it but little of the intervening detail is filled in because it simply is poor storytelling.
The story just had ... "gaps." It would go from scene to scene and just. Sometimes even in a scene you'd be lost because little to no context came with the transition between scenes. I really wanted to like this but it just made little actual sense. You could piece together a decent bit of the overarching story across the length of it but little of the intervening detail is filled in because it simply is poor storytelling.
ryneb's review
4.0
At first, I thought High Moon was just about werewolves, and I was seriously wrong. High Moon might contain werewolves, but it tackles so much more in its short, three-chapter graphic novel that it is almost offensive to assume that Gallaher and Ellis were making only a werewolf comic.
High Moon was featured on the Zuda Comics website as the winner of an online competition. Now, it has been made into graphic novel form through DC Comics. One can actually read the entirety of the graphic novel through the Zuda Comics website, plus ten or so more pages that weren't included.
In all honesty, it's no wonder that High Moon won the competition. Its story is a great mix of western and horror that blends seamlessly to create a fantastic romp through the village of Blest and onward. Werewolves and other creatures of darkness have been tormenting villagers, and it is up to the heroes, who are all mysteriously named Macgregor, to battle these forces of evil, while also having some secrets up their sleeves as well. These heroes are all moody, battle-hardened cowboy types, looking for vengeance and spreading a little violence as well.
High Moon transitions extremely well from chapter to chapter, taking on a new story arc at each turn. Throughout the first chapter, we are even presented with a protagonist that is developed and then dies off in a surprising twist! Gallaher's plot is fully focused and exceedingly smart, remaining high intensity and often emotionally jarring throughout the course of the novel. This mood is equaled by the consistent artistry from Ellis, who captures the grit of the West with superb animation. The color is also widely varied and lush, showcasing the splendors of the environment.
Awesome action sequences abound as well. Ellis' drawings are complex enough to allow the combat to appear both smooth and intricate at the same time, and stylistically, I think the drawings of High Moon are some of my favorites thus far after reading three comics series in a row. The creature designs are also surprising; these aren't the type of werewolves most of us are used to, because they have evolved into winged creatures with multiple eyes. They are also much less like wolves and more like legitimate monstrous beasts.
High Moon's first volume is full to the brim with action and suspenseful plot elements. We travel from village to village, from the western Texas town of Blest to the snow-capped mountains of an Indian village that is threatened by soldiers. There's never a dull moment for the people of High Moon, nor is there one for the reader. I love how each arc wraps around to the others, and incorporates helpful bits of background information in each to give the reader some exposition on the Macgregor's. The storytelling is inspiring, and though I found it a bit confusing at first, I quickly found myself wrapped up in the plot and the Western tropes.
Hopefully, Zuda Comics and the team of Gallaher and Ellis come out with the second volume of the series soon, as the finale of this novel left me hanging by a thread. I'm eager for more werewolf adventures with the Macgregors, as their characterization is actually quite successful despite the fact that the Macgregors feel slightly distanced. DC Comics' horror line-up has yet to disappoint me, and I think High Moon is a great comic that feels full of superheroes when none are to be found. Just a bunch of cowboys doing their jobs, thank you very much, ma'am.
High Moon was featured on the Zuda Comics website as the winner of an online competition. Now, it has been made into graphic novel form through DC Comics. One can actually read the entirety of the graphic novel through the Zuda Comics website, plus ten or so more pages that weren't included.
In all honesty, it's no wonder that High Moon won the competition. Its story is a great mix of western and horror that blends seamlessly to create a fantastic romp through the village of Blest and onward. Werewolves and other creatures of darkness have been tormenting villagers, and it is up to the heroes, who are all mysteriously named Macgregor, to battle these forces of evil, while also having some secrets up their sleeves as well. These heroes are all moody, battle-hardened cowboy types, looking for vengeance and spreading a little violence as well.
High Moon transitions extremely well from chapter to chapter, taking on a new story arc at each turn. Throughout the first chapter, we are even presented with a protagonist that is developed and then dies off in a surprising twist! Gallaher's plot is fully focused and exceedingly smart, remaining high intensity and often emotionally jarring throughout the course of the novel. This mood is equaled by the consistent artistry from Ellis, who captures the grit of the West with superb animation. The color is also widely varied and lush, showcasing the splendors of the environment.
Awesome action sequences abound as well. Ellis' drawings are complex enough to allow the combat to appear both smooth and intricate at the same time, and stylistically, I think the drawings of High Moon are some of my favorites thus far after reading three comics series in a row. The creature designs are also surprising; these aren't the type of werewolves most of us are used to, because they have evolved into winged creatures with multiple eyes. They are also much less like wolves and more like legitimate monstrous beasts.
High Moon's first volume is full to the brim with action and suspenseful plot elements. We travel from village to village, from the western Texas town of Blest to the snow-capped mountains of an Indian village that is threatened by soldiers. There's never a dull moment for the people of High Moon, nor is there one for the reader. I love how each arc wraps around to the others, and incorporates helpful bits of background information in each to give the reader some exposition on the Macgregor's. The storytelling is inspiring, and though I found it a bit confusing at first, I quickly found myself wrapped up in the plot and the Western tropes.
Hopefully, Zuda Comics and the team of Gallaher and Ellis come out with the second volume of the series soon, as the finale of this novel left me hanging by a thread. I'm eager for more werewolf adventures with the Macgregors, as their characterization is actually quite successful despite the fact that the Macgregors feel slightly distanced. DC Comics' horror line-up has yet to disappoint me, and I think High Moon is a great comic that feels full of superheroes when none are to be found. Just a bunch of cowboys doing their jobs, thank you very much, ma'am.
skjam's review
3.0
It is summer 1890, and there have been 100 days since the town of Blest, Texas has seen rain. Drought is bad enough, but cattle have been going missing, and now a little girl as well. The sheriff’s been out of town for a while pursuing leads, leaving his daughter to try to keep a lid on things, which the girl’s disappearance is not helping. Hey, bounty hunter Matthew MacGregor’s in town. He’s looking for a specific outlaw, but maybe if we promise to help him look for that outlaw, MacGregor will help look for Margaret?
MacGregor’s a surly fellow with dark secrets, so his help is begrudging at first. But as events unfold, it turns out this case is very much up his alley. Blest has its own bloody history which has come back to haunt it, in addition to that outlaw being present.
Some months later, a train robbery results in unusual loot, and the robbers are soon the victims of something…unnatural. Conroy MacGregor has come to the town in search of forgiveness, but as long as he’s here, he might as well deal with the lethal forces that have been unleashed with the aid of two brothers feuding over a woman. As if that wasn’t complicated enough, Tristan MacGregor has also arrived, a special envoy from Nikolai Tesla, and he knows there’s no “Conroy” in the family.
This horror western webcomic ran from 2007-2010 on the late lamented Zuda website, and is now a series of three landscape-oriented trade paperbacks with attractive slipcovers.
We are most assuredly in the Weird West here, with werewolves, hoodoo and men wearing electric armor. Most of the scenes take place at night or in shadowy places, which sometimes makes it difficult to tell what’s going on during the more complicated parts of the plotline. In particular I got confused between two older gentlemen with similar mustaches.
The second story is better than the first, as the writer didn’t seem to like his initial protagonist and there’s little development.
The art is good when it’s not too murky.
Worth looking up if like me you missed out on Zuda altogether.
MacGregor’s a surly fellow with dark secrets, so his help is begrudging at first. But as events unfold, it turns out this case is very much up his alley. Blest has its own bloody history which has come back to haunt it, in addition to that outlaw being present.
Some months later, a train robbery results in unusual loot, and the robbers are soon the victims of something…unnatural. Conroy MacGregor has come to the town in search of forgiveness, but as long as he’s here, he might as well deal with the lethal forces that have been unleashed with the aid of two brothers feuding over a woman. As if that wasn’t complicated enough, Tristan MacGregor has also arrived, a special envoy from Nikolai Tesla, and he knows there’s no “Conroy” in the family.
This horror western webcomic ran from 2007-2010 on the late lamented Zuda website, and is now a series of three landscape-oriented trade paperbacks with attractive slipcovers.
We are most assuredly in the Weird West here, with werewolves, hoodoo and men wearing electric armor. Most of the scenes take place at night or in shadowy places, which sometimes makes it difficult to tell what’s going on during the more complicated parts of the plotline. In particular I got confused between two older gentlemen with similar mustaches.
The second story is better than the first, as the writer didn’t seem to like his initial protagonist and there’s little development.
The art is good when it’s not too murky.
Worth looking up if like me you missed out on Zuda altogether.
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