Review by Frank Plowright
As the title indicates, Tom Ward and Luke Parker’s interpretation of Joseph’s Merrick’s experiences in late 19th century London are sensationalised to reconfigure him as a proto-superhero. Likewise, Dr Frederick Treves the man who cared for Merrick in reality, is reconfigured as an altogether more sinister personality. He’s a manipulative presence lacking ethical boundaries, and dabbling in the occult on behalf of his masonic lodge. However, a perhaps overconfident Treves now has enemies able to call on supernatural help.
At its simplest, Merrick could be seen as a slick homage to Mike Mignola’s assorted dives into eldritch territory, with both creators strongly influenced by his works, but it transcends being a mere homage through the sheer quality of plot and art. View it as a project hovering in familiar territory, but offering new insight and new paths.
The influence of Mignola is most obvious in Parker’s artistic style and colour sense, but not to the point of copying. He puts a lot of effort into convincing period details, ensuring Merrick and those he accompanies occupy rich environments, and has an admirable sense of design. Several creatures manifest, some more to be pitied than threatened, and Parker creates memorably visual menaces from them, supplying horrors you wouldn’t want turning up in your basement. He’s also willing to use big images when needed, and the layouts become more ambitious with every chapter.
As in Volume One, horror remains the most obvious genre, but Ward doesn’t stick exclusively to it. There are infusions of pulp adventure and steampunk crimefighting, and there’s an overall optimism in tragic circumstances not common to the genre. It’s exemplified when Merrick is given the opportunity to see how his life might be in other circumstances. The imaginative horror about a previously unconsidered bliss and the joyful adventure it generates is its inevitable impermanence. Also impressive is what a wide cast has been created over just eight chapters, most fully able to return if needed, although the impressive Dr. Crowe is on loan from Corey Fryia, who co-scripts his appearance.
By the end much about Merrick has been revealed, as in this world his condition is no accident. The evolution has been joyful, and there’s a complexity to the storytelling that marks Merrick as something different and worth investigation. Bring on Volume 3.
This is available via Amazon, but why not support independent creativity by buying directly from Ward and Parker at their website.
