I just got the final reveal in the Deneaus conclusion. Not like I just finished reading it and got the reveal; a few hours later, sitting down to write about Shadows on the Grave’s finish, I got it.

I should’ve gotten it earlier. Maybe I would in a single sitting reread (I mean, probably not, but we’re pretending here). It’s a nice touch. It doesn’t change anything about the final chapter, but a nice touch. Creator Richard Corben’s had a bumpy road with Deneaus, the only serial in Grave, and it’s nice he’s got it to a solid finish. The art’s particularly lovely, with lots of white space for the open skies and empty landscapes. It contrasts the very busy panels of the rest of the book, which mostly takes place in graveyards.

Literally.

Over fifty percent of the other three short stories and two one-pagers takes place in a graveyard. The non-graveyard one-pager, opening the book, involves a corpse. Corben’s got his standards, and he hits them well here. Well, after the first story, anyway.

The first story’s another robber story; some dude is going to rob an antique shop and pawn the goods somewhere else for cash. The shop owner can tell there’s something skeezy and kicks the guy out, who then watches the store owner acting weird about a cabinet. Of course, the robber will return for the cabinet, with its contents providing scary fodder for the rest of the story.

The MacGuffin’s only okay because Corben does a weird epilogue thing where he skips some of the action. The epilogue doesn’t work, making the MacGuffin less of a disappointment in comparison. Lots of scary, ominous details, though.

They really come through in the following story, about a couple of kids playing in a graveyard. One dares the other to go into a child killer’s crypt, only for the gate to get stuck. Corben uses the same epilogue device here and to great success. Corben writes a lot more this issue since he’s still doing eight-page stories, and there’s not much action in them, and the prose here’s better. He’s more patient with it.

The next story—also a graveyard story—has a woman visiting her mother’s grave, then her three husbands’ graves. Corben does a quick exposition dump, then turns it into a zombie action story with a couple unexpected turns (outside the zombies). No epilogue device in this one (though I’m now thinking about how Corben usually just does them in narration, not scene). Anyway. Another really strong entry. While the first story’s lacking, the second two more than make up for it, then the Deneaus finale brings the issue to a strong close.

The back cover one-pager bids Grave and its readers an amusing, witty farewell.

The series has ranged from excellent Corben to uneven Corben. The art’s always been on point, even when the writing’s been wanting (more often than not, that writing isn’t Corben’s). In all, an outstanding Corben horror anthology.

I’m back to wondering if they commissioned a bunch of stories from the same prompt, and now it’s creator Richard Corben’s turn to do them himself. There aren’t any co-writers this issue, not even on the one-page strips. It’s just Corben, and it’s a triple.

Unfortunately, there are four stories, but the first three more than make up for the lag.

The first story’s the writing prompt one. Some selfish nephews visit a dying relation, looking for some cash. The relation tells them to bugger off—it’s a Shadows standard—and then the money-seeker kills them. Except here, the relation dies of natural causes, and the boys are left contesting a will. It isn’t actually Richard Corben illustrating an estate law procedural, but it’s just as weird in the end. There’s some beautiful pacing on the story too. It feels double-sized, thanks to Corben’s opening narration and how it carries the opening one-page strip’s tone.

Beautiful work.

Then the following story is about a gravedigger who works for his corrupt cousin. After being particularly shitty one day, the cousin decides to follow the gravedigger home and check up on his living situation. He’s in for a big surprise.

Similar to the first story, Corben sets up one horror story trope only to do something else with it. This story also has the biggest haunting factor of the issue (and it’s in the running for the most haunting of the series)–another strong entry.

The third story’s about a woman getting a ride from some dude, and they stop at a roadside horror museum. Except the only thing in the museum is a creepy garden with moldy statues.

Corben pushes too hard on the writing—he draws the couple like love interests, but their dialogue just has them acquaintances. It’s so noticeable by the third page I went back to check if he had a co-writer. The story turns itself around enough by the end, with some really dark humor, even for Corben. The art’s particularly gorgeous on this one.

The last eight-page feature is the Deneaus chapter, the Ancient Greek action epic Corben’s been doing the whole series.

It’s the penultimate chapter. Most of the chapter is a battle scene with the bad guys falling right into Deneaus’s traps. Some good art, but there’s nothing to the story. Even with all the twists and turns, Corben’s not going anywhere with it or the characters. It’s too bad. Still totally fine, but a disappointment. Especially taking the rest of the issue into account.

The two one-pagers are fine. The back cover color one gets away from Corben, but the first one’s solid.

I’m going to miss this series.

Shadows on the Grave #2 is not a bad comic, but it does show how far down I’ll follow creator Richard Corben without batting an eye.

Once again, Corbin’s got multiple done-in-ones, then a chapter in his Greek epic. If it weren’t for the Greek epic featuring a cyclops eating a bunch of soldiers, it’d be a talking heads story. But, damn, can Corben draw a rampaging cyclops. It’s also incredibly confusing since there’s no real recap of the previous entry; I’d forgotten it was all about some Greek hero who needed to get out of town. I thought it was all about the cyclops.

I’d be very curious to read the story on its own, not the fourth entry in every issue in an anthology. Especially if there aren’t any recaps.

The first three stories are all fifties or sixties-era stories set in the very rural South. Not connected, of course, but fertile ground for horror comics. They just go on a little long. Every story runs eight pages; for the three horror stories, it feels like Corben’s trying the vamp a couple of pages away. The Greek chapter? He needs at least another couple pages, if not all six he’d get from cutting down the horror stories.

The first and third stories are the most successful, with both having a nephew robbing a rich aunt. The first, the aunt’s alive, and the would-be robber is bringing along his girlfriend to do the deed, his brother presumably around trying to do the same thing. They go out to the aunt’s house in the woods, and strange, horrible things happen with little explanation. Corben races to get to the murderous intent section but then drags the rest of the story.

Beautiful art, though.

The second story’s the least successful. Some kid follows his uncle into the swamp, where the uncle has a strange, horrible experience, then the nephew has a strange, horrible experience, and nothing gets explained at the end. Corben goes for haunting and doesn’t pull it off, making it one of his least successful stories… ever. Corben always pulls it off.

The third story’s the best, just because the setting’s excellent. This time the robber nephew–a different one, obviously; the first story’s robber nephew was a beatnik or at least adjacent, this robber nephew’s a greaser—this time, he’s robbing a corpse. He just can’t find his way around the graves, so he asks an old mourner lady for help and, damn, if he doesn’t want to rob her too. The graveyard’s phenomenal.

Then there’s the Greek epic chapter, with the hero starting his quest with some ominous foreshadowing. Or possibly a cliffhanger tragedy; it’s unfortunately hard to tell because Corben does a montage on the last page without establishing what’s changing. Other than the lighting.

So also not successful. But Corben does have the cyclops kicking ass, so it more than covers.

Corben was seventy-seven when this book originally came out, so he gets all sorts of passes, but still. I was expecting Grave to be great start to finish; I hope he gets his groove back next issue.

Despite having read this comic before, I did not heed Mag the Hag and was surprised when the last story in the anthology really is a straight Greek tragedy. The comic opens with Mag the Hag introducing herself—she’s Shadows’s Crypt-Keeper—and then going on at length about the contents of the issue, including the story of Denaeus.

What stands out about Denaeus’s story is how differently creator Richard Corben plots a chapter versus a stand-alone. The other three stories are all done-in-ones horror stories; Denaeus is an epic; it’s Corben with more time to play. He has a great time with it, including a lot of humor, which would be out of place in the other stories.

The first story is about a traveling puppet show and the incredible life-like puppets. Two little boys get curious about the puppeteer’s secret, especially after hearing strange noises from the wagon.

It’s a somewhat obvious story with beautiful art from Corben. Whether it’s the reaction shots on the little boys, the way the action unfolds, or the haunting inhumanity, Corben does it all. It’s a great start to the comic.

The second story is about a couple emergency landing on an island. It reads rather quickly but features some more incredible art.

Corben’s style changes are a little different in the third story. He’s got his rounded, deep style, and then he’s got his inky style. The third story is inky. Well, some of it. He’s got a little bit of the rounded but mostly inky.

This farmer beats his wife one time too many, so she poisons him. Only he doesn’t die. Or maybe he does die. Either way, he’s still walking and talking. The story tracks the events from a distance as neighbors wonder what’s happening. It’s got one hell of a money shot, which Corben drags out magnificently. In the first and second stories, he’s not coy; in the third story, cards are close to the chest.

Then the Greek tragedy for fourth and the issue. The aforementioned humor comes both in dialogue and sight gags. But it’s still straight Ancient Greece stuff—Denaeus is a strong man and potential Royal Guard officer; he’s a great angle of entry for telling the story.

Plus, there are some potentially interesting plotting decisions; while the first three stories are all about Corben’s control, the Ancient Greece one is where he’s got room to let loose. Presumably. Hopefully.

I can’t wait to see what’s next in Shadows.