While the first issue of Ragemoor was competently written gothic stuff from Strnad and great art from Corben, the second issue is something else entirely. It reveals this wondrous–albeit horrible and sometimes disgusting–world, something Strnad would’ve been better to do the first issue.
The weird orangutang of the first issue are actual weird orangutangs, not just the embodiment of the castle’s evil. There’s also the suggestion of the world immediately surrounding the castle, which plays in a little.
As for the protagonist, Strnad develops him in a tragic gothic fashion. His butler is a little more interesting, just because the protagonist is the dumb young manor gentleman.
Strnad gives Corben some great things to draw, from the basement battlegrounds to the walls of Ragemoor. They unexpectedly teem with life.
The finale is exciting, touching and a little sad. Strnad heaps on the foreshadowing, in a true gothic fashion.
CREDITS
Writer, Jan Strnad; artist, Richard Corben; letterer, Nate Piekos; editors, Daniel Chabon and Scott Allie; publisher, Dark Horse Comics.
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