Review by Frank Plowright

The Gravediggers Union begins with the interaction of a gloopy, Lovecraftian monster with a bunch of humanoid apes, the outcome uncertain. What is certain is that in the present day this is a world that takes supernatural threats seriously and has the Gravediggers Union to protect them.

It’s a neat idea on Wes Craig’s part. These are blue collar everyday Joes who literally work the graveyard shift keeping humanity safe. Toby Cypress emphasises the social structure by dressing them in working clothes and shrouding their world in mists via zip-a-tone (or digital equivalent), while letting his imagination fly with the creatures they face. It’s the undead, but not as we generally see them, far looser and less well defined, wispy, yet with enormous strength and coalescing into giant forms. They’re horrifying for being so vague. Craig’s better known as an artist than writer, and draws each chapter opening himself, heading back to the past for more obscure occurrences, often in almost abstract patterns.

A single family personalises the bigger picture. Cole is a Gravedigger who’s long been estranged from his daughter Morgan, yet a threat manifesting early wears a medallion engraved with the same pattern she continually drew. An uneasy alliance with a witch opens up the plot by revealing that a shady cabal of the rich and influential have formed the Black Temple to become even richer and more influential via the supernatural. Cole doesn’t know Morgan is involved with them, although she’s written and drawn with some nuance as a person keeping her cards close to her chest.

The deeper into the story we head, the more important colourist Nico Guardia becomes. He uses distinctive swashes of colour across the pages, adding to the zip-a-tone to make it gauze and supplies a shaded intricacy giving a very distinctive look.

Much of the plot is two quests for different purposes. Cole and his allies search for clues about the Black Temple, while Morgan still needs to prove herself as the foretold prophet to powerful sceptics. Once past the opening chapter the concept of the union all-but disappears as Craig supplies a more traditional horror path, but the ground is solid, and The Gravediggers Union rides the change by virtue of an engaging cast.

The final few pages make sense of those Craig draws starting each chapter, and leave the entire cast in danger from what they’ve learned. It’s a fine set-up for Vol. 2.