Monday, January 2, 2012

Were House vol. 1



The concept of werewolves has regained its mainstream acknowledgement which had been fading in the recent past, however at present times werewolf literature has changed its tone from horror genre to more teen oriented genres, or to the realms of fantasy.

Were House: vol.1 is a refreshing return to the horror roots of were creatures, it does not feature werewolves.
Were House: volume 1 contains three gripping tales of three mesmerizing were-creatures.
The graphic anthology is wholly illustrated by Vivek Goel in stellar black and white one-shots and written by three talented writers.

Its a great comic book to have if you enjoy horror graphic novels. Its only thirty pages long, so its technically not a graphic novel but a comic book. It would be fallowed by vol. 2 however it would not be releasing soon, perhaps in the late 2012. I got in touch with Vivek Goel the illustrator and CEO of publisher Holy Cow Entertainment, he said that currently they are over loaded with work. They are currently working on their famous Ravanayan series and the upcoming graphic novel Skull Rosary. 


I would not include much information about the plots of the stories for the benefit of the readers.

It starts off with a captivating introduction by Pawan Soni in which he talk about the were creatures and were house, his insightful intro sets the mood right.

Each story is followed by a brief note about the story by their authors, in which they describe there inspiration for the story, their reasons to choose the particular animal and others things.



First story is called "Guardian Demon" written by Akshay Dhar.



Guardian Demon is set in ancient India, the year is 990 A.D. and the place is an verdant Kashmir valley.

Guardian Demon showcase show-leopard, its a story that has common backdrop of good vs evil plot.
In the story were-leopards are the good guys, the story telling and narration is good saving for a few errors.
The landscapes and the visual treatment is the strongest feature of the story, it is also the best drawn story of the three. The story as mythological background is he carry superbly through out till the end.





Second story is called "Mousetrap" written by Soumya Das.



Mousetrap is set in contemporary time, it's a utter horror story.

Its my favorite of the three, the story is a well paced and simple. I can't reveal much about the story as it will spoil the story through I can say that it features rats this time.


The story has a good amount of blood and gore. It also suffers from few mistakes which forgivable taking in consideration that the publication is just starting up. Some of the cells in this stories seems replicated.
Still it is the strongest story of the lot. 





Third and last story is called "It's a Dog's Death" written by Shweta Taneja.



It's a Dog's Death is set in the future, story is of a day in apocalyptic Indian subcontinent.

The origins of were dogs is explained in the science fiction as a redesign of human DNA, the pemises of that of humanity vs the machine which is not new however this story will not disappoint you. Its a good little tale, I enjoyed reading it.





Were House vol. 1 is a good graphic anthology through I would have been better if it was saved from the few mistakes. I also comes cheap at 80 Indian Rupees its a great deal. The quality of the drawing is superb and the stories are great.

Were House vol. 1 is available within India at many dealing stores including Flipkart.
Internationally I can be purchased directly from the publishers by e-mailing them at vivek@holycow.in or you can get to them through there Facebook page.