Art by: Rory Donald
Letters by: Robin Jones
Published by: Madius Comics
Following hot on the heels of last year’s epic Tales of Horrere, team Madius are back with the first issue of Griff Gristle: Here Be Monsters. Scripted by the partnership behind Papercuts & Inkstains series, along with the aforementioned Ghastly Award 2015 nominee Tales of Horrere, Robin Jones and Mike Sambrook, we look to have a quality tale on our hands.
Griff Gristle #1 starts out steadily; an incident involving the crew of an unfortunate fishing boat provides the atmosphere that pervades the entire issue. Drawing in a worthy air of The Fog the Madius team leads us on an exploration of horror and the delightfully gruff Mr Gristle and his heroic handling of the situation that has befallen the citizens of Charlesberg. The story lends elements of atmospheric horror along with a smattering of the occult, the latter feels partly inspired by the endeavors of the legendary Mike Mignola.
On art for this issue is Rory Donald, who imbues the pages with sufficient foreboding, atmosphere and relevant action to propel the story along. The aspects of horror, particularly lending the feel from the classic The Fog movie, are well portrayed – and work seamlessly with the story from Jones/Sambrook. Along with the necessary cinematic framing Rory successfully delivers the otherworldly horror. The art is reminiscent of that provided by Luke Parker on the excellent Tom Ward series: Merrick – and, like the Sensational Elephantman, this title shares the same early promise.
As you would expect from the Madius writers the story is well realized, Griff is introduced early in the narrative and is allowed to germinate through the story to a satisfying conclusion. Similarly, the support cast are portrayed in a fitting manner and the whole thing is tied together into a very effective tale.
With any luck the adventures of Griff Gristle will return following this delightful debut. Griff Gristle has enough about him to demand much further exploration – the character and the situations around him require nothing less!
