We got our hands on an uncorrected review copy of High Moon Vol 1, Bullet Holes and Bite Marks and we are pretty stoked that we did.

From the minds of David Gallaher and Steve Ellis comes a Harvey-Award-winning story set in wild west Texas. The gritty world is fueled by the harshness of the real surroundings and the dark and twisted mythos haunting the characters. 

The High Moon series was a webcomic around 2007 appearing with Zuda, but when Zuda was shut down the comic was muted. In early 2017, Papercutz revealed that in their super genius imprints, High Moon would be revived for three volumes. This is including an addition to the already existing story in the third volume.

The story is a finely paced adventure. From start to finish everything feels perfectly timed, a blend between stillness and action that isn’t used well enough in today’s comic arena. It follows a former agent who is now a blunt Hunter named Matthew MacGregor who is investigating the events of a small Texan town. It soon becomes apparent that the supernatural has grip on the totem, but it also groups MacGregor as well. The story is a solid and fluid one, working in small moments of humor, but never in a way that distracts or doesn’t feel genuine. The action in the story stands out not just because of wonderful pacing, but also due to the amount of werewolves, werebats, and other humans going at it. The story has a few twists and turns that work very well and should be enjoyable for all first time readers. All in all the story is well crafted and hasn’t missed a step since the original webcomic.

The art in High Moon is, simply put, outstanding. The dark and gritty time of the story plays in to the nature of the art contrasting beautifully with the primarily orange coloring of the Western setting. The night is colored with a navy blue that again contrasts with the many beasts spring a grey and red. The at of the human characters seem purposely softer than that of all the bestial ones who are fairly jagged and asymmetrical in style. Every panel in the book is informed by the ones preceding it, creating an at style that goes almost like an animation.

This preview of the revamped High Moon shows that not only is the horror genre in comics has huge potential, but also that the themes and ideas can remain constant throughout time. The first volume Bullet Holes and Bite Marks will be available starting in October and it was will be followed by two other volumes.

We highly recommend High Moon for comic horror readers or anyone who enjoys a thrilling story with amazing art to guide the journey.

Pick up the first volume in October and truly understand why it is an award winning story.