Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: Coraline by Neil Gaiman & P. Craig Russell ::
by William the Bloody
Coraline Jones is a young girl who just moved into a new flat with her two parents. School hasn't started yet, so Coraline spends much of her time exploring the new area. Not long into checking out her new apartment did she discover the door in the drawing room. A door that leads nowhere. Curious about the door, she gets her mother to unlock it to find out where it goes, only to be confronted with a disappointing brick wall. Probably bricked over when they converted the old Victorian house into small flats, her mother surmises, and she does not re-lock the door. Why bother? It goes nowhere. ...or does it? One day while her parents were both busy, Coraline found herself in a fit of boredom so she decided to check on that door again. This time, there was a long, dark hallway instead of bricks. Sure it was creepy, but at least it was interesting, so Coraline went inside. When she came out the other side, she thought for a moment she got turned around and had simply come back to her own home. When she saw her mother in the kitchen, it wasn't really her mother. She, like this apartment, were the same as Coraline knew yet somehow eerily different. This mother, Coraline's Other Mother has long fingernails and buttons for eyes. She cooks the best lunch Coraline has ever eaten, has decorated Coraline's other bedroom with bright colours and filled it with exciting toys. The neighbours, while in Coraline's world are boring and old, here are exciting and fun. The Other Mother offers Coraline a full life here: an attentive mother who is eager to please, excitement and games all the livelong day. Don't you want to stay on this side, Coraline? We want you you stay. There's just ONE LITTLE THING....
The Good: This is the comic book adaptation of Neil Gaiman's book, and I cannot think of a finer artist to have taken up the task. Russell's line work is simple but detailed that produces crisp and clean looking art. Russell is also a master of sequential art layouts. His layouts may appear elementary, but I assure you that they are just the thing for this sort of storytelling. I personally especially liked how he creatively worked the title pages! I would definitely be remiss if I did not mention the wonderful lettering work of Todd Klein for this book. Klein is of course known for his astounding letters in the Sandman comic series (amoung others) and he has really out done himself here. There are many panels in this book where the LETTERS really feel like another character, such as when Coraline first opens the door and another when she recounts the time she went to a gully with her father. The letters spill and cascade down the image beautifully but retain all their legibility. Now that is some fine craftsmanship! The story of course is a favourite of mine from book form and the film version (though this is an adaptation of the book version NOT the film) and now I adore it in all its forms!
The Bad: Um... I didn't like the donut-like design of the rock with a hole in it for this adaptation. In my mind when reading the book, I had always pictured something smaller and, er, less round? This one looked far too much like a donut for me. That's it. Seriously. The rest is aces.
A+
