Review: Graveneye

From TKO Studios, just in time for Halloween digitally this week, and in print on the 30th of November, this is a new graphic novel, Graveneye. Check out the preview here.

Ilsa lives alone in a large mansion deep in the woods. Ilsa has always lived here, though not always alone. Ilsa has a hunger, she likes to hunt, she likes to skin, and carve, and clean.
Now Ilsa has hired the young Marie to help her keep the big house tidy. But Marie brings demons of her own into Ilsa's domain. And watching these two strange birds locked in a cage is the house itself, cursed with sentience, destined to watch the horror of the human drama.

By Sloane Leong and Anna Bowles

Wow, this is something else.

Where to start? The beginning always works best, and here we start with the words of an interesting narrator. The house. Not your usual narrator, but in this case, a trustworthy one, who has seen all that has gone before it. In this case that covers quite a lot. The childhood, the blood and those who have come before. This is quite a trustworthy narrator - why should it lie? And with some interesting metaphores and similes that wouldn't come from a person, but you would expect that a house may be concerned with.

We get introduced to the two main characters early on, and there is a little darkness in one, while the other has a timid innocence. This is really the beginning, as the relationship gradually grows and we learn a little more each page on each character. One the mistress of the house, the other the maid...

Ilsa is an imposing character, not only in her personality, but wonderfully shown in the angles and scenes she is featured in. We see her in flashbacks as a child, and that links up well to how she had grown to what she will be. The styles of scenes, poses and mannerisms work well, in contrast, will petit Marie.

Marie, on the other hand, is smaller, timid, and shy. Again, her reactions and mannerisms show this really well, with the building of her story and her ways.

There is a great scene halfway through that shows the difference between the two characters, in the view of the house, with how they both work their way through the trials and tribulations of being in this strangely sentient house.

Nevertheless, this is an absolute page-turner, mixing the sweeter and kinder aspects with Marie, and the darker more base aspects with Ilsa. As the story progresses, you see them getting drawn closer together as you learn more or Ilsa's past and Marie's present.

It all comes to a climax towards the end, but in a strange twist, that is not the full part of the tale and the pace really picks up in the final pages until the grim reveal...

This is an excellent horror, with so many different aspects to it all. It brings you into the fold as you are an observer - the same as the house.