WOLVES (Self-published)
By Becky Cloonan

Synopsis: Nothing bad has ever happened to a hunter alone in the woods, right?

01.Wolves is a difficult comic to nail down. In just 24 pages, it tells a story that could fit a book five times its size. With that brevity, the comic becomes a poem, a meditation on romance, regret and, well, life, as a hunter tracks a vicious beast at the behest of his king.

02. I’m sorry, does that sound douchey? It might. I know that. I used the word “meditation” and I’m going to have to live with that. Yes, I absolutely believe that Wolves is a poetic masterpiece. It is, however, also a gorgeous comic. Cloonan gives the action scene towards the end of the comic a visceral, panicked feeling. Even the scenes around it, of the hunt itself and details from other times in in the hunter’s life, are given a tenseness by her fine, detailed lines.

03. I think my favourite part of the comic is its ambiguity. We see the hunter and his prey clash, interspersed with scenes and images from the man’s past, which gradually lead him to a realization about the true purpose of his task. Eventually, the reader finds out the man’s fate - Cloonan is a genius at conveying her ideas with few or no words and the atmosphere she creates with the forest alone is astounding - but much of the rest is left for the reader to interpret and decide. The opening and closing of the comic in particular should vex readers and draw them in to read and reread over and over. The hunter we see is different than he is in the rest of the comic. Why? There are a few options, and I won’t ruin the comic for you by even mentioning what they are, but the ending will leave its mark on you no matter what you decide on.

04. Wolves is, without a doubt, one of the most beguiling, haunting and magical comics I’ve read all year. I can’t stop reading it. I can’t stop trying to figure it out but it shifts ever so slightly each time I open the cover. This won’t be going on the shelf for a while. I still have too much to get out of it.

Wolves is self-published by Becky Cloonan. Buy it HERE.

Recommended if you like: Northlanders, George R. R. Martin, and good comics