In Review: The Wolfmen

By John Freeman on May 6, 2008

Review by David Hailwood

Another fine offering from Accent UK, publishers of Robots, The Wolfmen successfully merges the crime and horror genre.

This time, we get a stand alone comic written by Dave West and drawn by Andy Bloor set in South East London, in the 1960s. It’s the tale of Jack Grey’s chance at making something of himself, of becoming one of the most notorious gangs of the time …. of becoming one of The Wolfmen.

The script by Dave West is incredibly well paced, and keeps the story moving along at break-neck speed; there’s never a point where I felt bogged down in unnecessary detail. Andy Bloor’s dark and gritty film noir art style complements the material perfectly – he even manages to make a splash page of a goldfish look exciting, which is quite a trick to pull off.

The only negative comments I’d level at the artwork is that some of the characters look alike, making it difficult at times to work out who’s who. Also, the character proportions (especially on one of the henchmen) are occasionally a little off. Minor details in a real page-turner of a comic.

• The Wolfmen is a 60 page black and white comic, priced at £3.00 and available from Accent UK. A second instalment, Fall of the Wolfmen, will be on its way soon.

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.