In his review of Harbor Moon at Comic Book Bin, Andy Frisk proclaims that 'Harbor Moon will rightfully take its place with the greats of sequential art gothic literature.' And with those words, fuels what may be the most amazing and insightful review for the book so far. Deconstructing the narrative to highlight the idea of 'the other', something we had talked about but is so under the surface we thought it was just something for ourselves to help us in tackling the story.
Some excerpts from his review...
"...Colucci, Ornekian, and Sambor do a fantastic job of taking what could have been an idea for a trite goth-tween drama and making it into gothic literature of the a new and unique kind: the sequential art kind.
To begin with, Harbor Moon tackles the theme of identity, personal and communal, in an intelligent way much like Let Me In tackles the nature of good, evil, and love or Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein tackles the nature loss of innocence, the nature of man, and the dangers of playing God. The metaphor of lycanthropy is used to designate a group that feels secluded from society at large and seen as a threat to the status quo like immigrants, minorities, foreigners, or any group that can be considered “The Other.” Using horror or supernatural elements to illuminate a rather commonplace and relevant theme or idea in a unique way is a hallmark of gothic literature. Could Vance’s story have been told, recasting him as an illegal immigrant or member of a minority group or religion, without resorting to supernatural themes? Of course, but such a story might itself be considered trite or too preachy. Disguising an important theme in the cloak of popular gothic horror and sequential art was a much better way for Colucci and company to go.
...Harbor Moon tells its story quite deftly in the hands of artist Pawl Sambor. Foregoing horror pop sensibilities, Sambor crafts a setting and atmosphere reminiscent of the moody setting of an early X-Files episode (another example of gothic literature actualized in cinematic form). Sketchy background details (usually something that I abhor) and heavily painted shadows set the tone magnificently, as if the reader is constantly attempting to pierce the darkness and mystery surrounding the town and its inhabitants. Sambor’s art powerfully highlights the theme of mystery and discovery that is central the story of Harbor Moon. Rarely does Sambor give us a complete view of the werewolves that populate the town of Harbor Moon. This goes a long way in leaving the horror up to our imaginations, and our imaginations are far worse than anything visualized on the printed page.
Harbor Moon rightfully will take its place with the greats of sequential art gothic literature. It’s a work packed full of interesting and relevant themes that uses the metaphor of “The Other” in the extreme to tell a familiar story in a new way. That’s the goal of art (as my readers have oft seen me argue), and Harbor Moon succeeds grandly in this aspect."
