Review by Ian Keogh
Rachel Rising is an epic series starting in the present, but stretching back to before recorded time, yet the standout character isn’t Rachel herself, but Zoe, a serial killer, and she’s the focus of Serial. It’s not necessary to know most of that to enjoy Serial, although those who don’t will initially be puzzled at Zoe’s confident personality, not knowing she may look ten, but is far older.
Terry Moore’s interpretation of her personality is of someone with enough acquired knowledge to be disarming. The killer we see at the start of The Glass Tomb, though, isn’t Zoe, but she is a killer, and someone who plans ahead meticulously, and so the roles are reversed, and it’s Zoe doing the detection.
While either the Dexter novels or TV show may have been the inspiration, Moore takes his plot in a very different direction by the focus being on Jenni, the killer seen at the start. Considering how old her mother is, it raises questions about Jenni being able to pass herself off as a high school student even if disguised, but otherwise Moore develops her personality well. She’s so enraged by married men having extra-marital sex that she’ll kill them. And that seeming error? By Serial’s conclusion there’s a hint that it’s no mistake after all.
The attraction of any of Moore’s projects is always the accomplished art, and his delicacy and precise panel compositions again shine, whether depicting urban or rural environments. He’s the full package, though, as his people are also good, and his technology is drawn with equal care. No comic about a serial killer is likely to be a happy experience, but Moore’s art sure is the sugar coated pill.
Moore always takes a leisurely pace with his stories, first ensuring readers know his cast and their motivations before moving forward, but by the end of The Glass Tomb the corpses are piling up and there’s more to come in Cat and Mouse. Alternatively, they’re combined as Serial Omnibus. Either way, anyone who likes a horrific crime story can’t go wrong here. It’s excellent.
