Tai Freligh reviews Penny Dreadful: The Awaking…
Penny Dreadful: The Ongoing Series Volume 1 – The Awakening’ continues the story directly after the shocking events of the season three TV finale! Six months after Vanessa’s death, Ethan and Sir Malcolm still struggle to move on. As an ill wind blows over London, it soon seems that Vanessa’s death was only the beginning… and an even greater danger is yet to come!
The illustrations in Penny Dreadful: The Awaking are colorful, but muted, with soft lines, reminding me of comic books I used to buy when I was a kid. The overall look of this collection is traditional, with a touch of old-school.
This story was very entertaining once I allowed my suspension of disbelief to kick in. Of course it’s already a fantastical story talking about mummies and ancient Egypt, but I found that I had to let go of certain actions taken by the characters, that didn’t make sense, but moved the plot forward. It’s not high theater, but this collection of Penny Dreadful comic books was an enjoyable excursion into classic horror and old-style storytelling.
Chris King includes a lengthy and fascinating story about how Penny Dreadful came about (and it includes the happiest place on Earth!). The fact that it was heavily influenced by old school horror made the style of illustration make more sense to me in the comic books. The drawings reminded me of the horror comic books I read in the 80’s and 90’s and gave me a nostalgic feeling. I also enjoyed looking at all the variant covers for the series in a gallery, including covers with likenesses of the television show’s actors and actresses.
Rating: 8/10
Tai Freligh is a Los Angeles-based writer and can be found on Twitter.
