Review: Alabaster – Wolves / Author: Caitlyn R. Kiernan / Artist: Steve Lieber / Publisher: Dark Horse Comics / Release Date: February 19th

There is a particular sort of dark fairy tale that suits the American South perfectly. Call it American Gothic, call it the American dream gone wrong, but swamps, torrid nights and Bible-thumping Christianity always seem to provide writers with a head start when it comes to giving audiences the heebie-jeebies. Alabaster: Wolves follows the story of Dancy Flammarion, a deeply troubled albino teenage girl who, when we first meet her, is waiting for a Greyhound Bus that may never come. Though the book begins with some pretty exposition-heavy dialogue, we quickly gather that this creepy young lady is stuck in a nightmare world filled with terrifying weirdness.

Caitlyn R. Kiernan has created a fascinating, multi-layered tale. Flammarion is an interesting and sympathetic protagonist – as well as an appealingly unreliable narrator – and though young girls whaling on monsters is a common enough trope in urban fantasy stories, she doesn’t feel forced or clichéd at any point. Steve Lieber’s untidily pretty penmanship is ideal for evoking this twisted yet magical world, and fans of Hellboy, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and those heavily into Urban Fantasy will find Alabaster: Wolves right up their very dark alley.