Wolves #1 by Becky Cloonan

Ok you intrepid infonauts! We have another hand-carved guest post from Mr Mark Jansen.

Mark, it's over to you.....

Becky Cloonan - Wolves #1

Sometimes you have to take chances... and that's exactly what I did here. Catching my eye on the corner of a random webpage among millions was an image from this self released book by Becky Cloonan, a book which is epic, delicate and beautifully concise in equal measures. Originally self released (in Japanese) and highly limited, I've got a later version, but don't let that put you off picking up a copy (yeah, you snob) from http://beckycloonan.bigcartel.com/product/wolves for only $5. Cos it's fucking lavish and beautiful.

Let me just say it - no question, this is absolutely exquisitely drawn by its artist and paced by its writer. They are, of course, the same person, and if you are in the know you may already know Becky Cloonan's work on... well, pretty much everything?? The super-talented Italian-born 31 year old has worked on Meathaus, Pixu (with brothers Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon) and Demo with Brian Wood (which I have almost bought on almost 1,000 separate occasions - not sure why I haven't...) as well as numerous covers.

The plot of Wolves? I feel like it's really too fluid to apply a synopsis and is more about feeling and ambivalence. It evoked for me the 'Black Freighter' passages of Watchmen, as we follow our hero on a quest revolving around obsession, guilt, love and death:

Cloonan's own site synopsises as follows: "As a lone hunter tracks an elusive beast through the forest, he reflects on his life and past love through a series of flashbacks, bringing the story to a climax that is as romantic as it is violent. This powerful mini-comic lends itself to multiple read-throughs, never giving concrete answers but (like the best enigmatic endings) leaves your own conclusions satisfying."

And that really is the hook that makes me want to hold and thumb through this book over and over again. It's something to be treasured, absorbed, pondered, and loved

how fucking beautiful is this?

Look out for her next mini self release, Orcs, which we might expect to contain a similar deconstruction of a much-visited myth...