A review by quirkycatsfatstacks
High Moon Vol. 1: Bullet Holes and Bite Marks by David Gallaher

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.


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