Customer Reviews

Boneyard, Vol. 1

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had heard rumblings here and there about Boneyard, and the concept of the book intrigued me to the point that I decided to try this trade paperback. In brief, Boneyard tells the story of a young man who inherits some land from his recently deceased grandfather. Rather than something immediately valuable, it turns out that the main character, Michael Paris, inherits a graveyard. To make matters worse, this graveyard is inhabited by a quirky and thoroughly charming group of "evil" beings -- and the locals are tired of sharing their town with these creatures. The conflict that ensues is enjoyable, though the real charm of Boneyard comes from the exploration and interaction of the great characters. This book collects the first four-issue story arc from the bi-monthly comic, and is thus a complete, stand-alone work in its own right.

Boneyard's creator, Richard Moore, is an outstanding artist who obviously loves what he does. The story and characters alone are interesting enough to justify the purchase, but Mr. Moore is such a talented artist that I found myself sometimes staring at a character's facial expressions as if the dialog were being spoken rather than read. Basically, the art really comes alive, and there are few comic artists who can pull it off at this level. Boneyard is something special.

This may be the funniest graphic novel that I've read in a LONG time! One of my friends brought it home from a honeymoon trip and it's been making the rounds ever since. Abbey is the coolest vampire chick I've seen in ages. The scene with her & Paris and the phone book made us all howl for hours. Buy this book- you won't regret it!

What would you do if your grandfather died and left you some land? What would you do if the land was in a town that is always beneath a dark cloud? What would you do if the land was a graveyard? What if the graveyard was inhabited by a collection of supernatural beings? And what if the local sheriff has rallied the town into wanting to destroy the property?

Well, it probably won't happen to you but it does to Michael Paris, star of this wonderful dark comedy.

Clean black and white illustrations and unique characters really help move this story along. Right from the start we are rooting for Michael and the boneyard inhabitants. The story ends in a good fashion (no silly rabbit out of hat ending here) and leaves the reader wanting more Moore.

If you like this one, you will also like Moore's Far West.

had heard rumblings here and there about Boneyard, and the concept of the book intrigued me to the point that I decided to try this trade paperback.

There are some books that you read that just keep your attention and you are not really sure why. It isn't really the depth of the story or the power of the dialog or even the eye-catching nature of the images. This story is in the category mentioned in the first sentence and fits all of the criteria listed in the second. Michael Paris is a rather ordinary single man on his way to the remote town of Raven Hollow. His eccentric grandfather recently died and left him a small plot in the town. Michael has never seen it and has no interest in it so he is going there to sign the papers so that the city can buy it from him.
However, when his car breaks down he hitches a ride and has to walk the last segment. When he arrives he finds the townsfolk carrying torches and being whipped into a fever pitch with the goal being to go to Michael's property and burn the tenants out. The property that he has inherited is a graveyard and it is inhabited by a collection of lovable monsters. They are largely from typical monster stock but with notable exceptions. The vampire is a lovely girl named Abbey that promises she won't bite; there is a skeleton, a wisecracking black bird and a creature similar to that from the black lagoon that is female with barely covered large breasts. She also has the hots for Michael, which is a bit of a problem, as her husband is a behemoth that would dwarf the wrestler Andre the Giant.
Michael generally takes it all in stride, except after he tries to pull Abbey from the path of a car and only succeeds in pulling off her top. At that point he protests a great deal about what he wasn't really gawking at. The idea of a man verbally stumbling over seeing the breasts of a good-looking female vampire is very amusing.
The story has so many slightly humorous moments and they are so synergistically compatible that the end result is a very good story. Some points were so memorable that I had to go back and read them again when I was writing this review.

Seriously. Why this isn't a more mainstream title or hasn't been picked up for a big screen adaptation is beyond me. It's got everything that people like. Humor, romantic tensions, misunderstood monsters & vampires, mysterious uncles & horrible plans. The characters are all highly likeable too. Even when characters are evil you still love reading about them.

The story follows a young man named Michael Paris who inherits an old graveyard from an uncle in the town of Raven's Hollow. The townspeople are all horribly eager to have him sell said graveyard so it can be turned into something other than a graveyard, but what nobody tells him is that the graveyard is inhabited by some very living characters. And they're not at all happy that they may be evicted.

Buy this comic book. You really won't be dissapointed by it if you are a fan of fun indie comics. This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's honestly something that I would imagine most people enjoying.

Richard Moore, Boneyard, vol. 1 (Nantier Beall Minoustchine, 2002)

Michael Paris' grandfather died and left him land in the secluded town of Raven Hollow. When he gets there, intending to do nothing but sell it to the town and go on his merry way, he finds out that the land is actually a cemetery, and that its inhabitants-- some of whom are not at all dead-- would prefer the town not get their hands on it, since the mayor wants to tear the cemetery down and put up a shopping mall. Now Michael has a dilemma-- go ahead and sell to the town, or take over his grandfather's caretaking job, and perhaps get himself involved with Abby, the attractive vampire who's in charge of the boneyard's undead? An interesting beginning, though I'm not entirely sold on the rather blocky artwork. Can't wait to see where this one's going to go. ***

Michael Paris inherited a lot of land from his grandfather when he died. Paris traveled to where this land was, where he planned to sign the land over to the town. Paris had car problems and had to ditch his car and hitch a ride with a passer-by. When the guy refused to bring Paris into the town, Paris knew something was up. To Paris' shock and amazement there was a crowd waiting for his arrival. The mayor of the town welcomed Paris and asked him to sign the land over right then and there. Abbey, a vampire, told Paris that he should not sign the land over because it was a graveyard and the home of many creatures. Paris told everyone that he would decide what to do the next day, and he went to his hotel room. Paris was awoken by a knock at the window, and to his surprise he saw Abbey, outside his window, hanging upside-down. Paris spent the knight with Abbey and all of the creatures that lived in the graveyard. Paris returned to his hotel room and woke up the next morning to the town folk celebrating and destroying the graveyard. What happened next changed everything.
The pictures in this graphic novel are amazing. They helped to illustrate what was happening through the story. The graphics are the novel, and the words that go along with the pictures explain the story quite well.