Review: Peabody & D’Gorath #1 / Created by: M D Penman / Published by: SLG. / Release date: Out Now 

Peabody & D’Gorath reads like Lewis Trondheim working in the SLG house-style, following the adventures of a pair of antiquated monsters in the late 1800s as they fight to defend Queen and Country from paranormal forces. 

There are hints of Mignola’s Hellboy and BPRD in here but with a distinctly British voice, leading to idiotic cultists, mind-controlled Frost Giants and some thoroughly civilised dialogue before the end of the world is nigh. The first issue ends on a cliff-hanger and it isn’t clear yet what direction the series will take, but all of the ingredients are in place for this to become a great comic.

At San Diego Comic Con SLG also gave out a code to download a teaser strip, The San Diego Aperitif, which delves a little deeper into why Remington Peabody is now a walking skeleton and hints at the demonic powers of Clancy D’Gorath. This can now be read for free here, at the tumblr account of colourist Andrew Tunney.

Peabody & D’Gorath was originally created as an entry to the Zuda comics competition in late 2009, before that particular branch of DC webcomics folded in 2010. It’s great to see the products of DC’s experiment bearing fruit, even at a time when SLG are now focussing on digital comics. With talking skeletons, elder gods, an appreciation for the absurd and a Victorian supernatural world to explore there’s a lot to like in Peabody & D’Gorath and hopefully as the series progresses we’ll see the development of a wider cast of characters to bring these pages to life. Issue #1 is a vast improvement on some of the prototypes for Peabody & D’Gorath that can be found on the creator’s website, and if the series continues to improve at this rate then we could be looking at something pretty special.

Peabody & D’Gorath #1 is available to download free here.