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As a lone hunter tracks an elusive beast through the forest, he reflects on his life and past love, bringing the story to a climax that is as romantic as it is violent. This critically acclaimed short story doesn't give up it's secrets easily, but like the best enigmatic endings, leaves your own conclusions satisfying.
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
2 people are currently reading
407 people want to read
About the author
Becky Cloonan
523 books397 followersBecky Cloonan is an American comic book creator, known for work published by Tokyopop and Vertigo. In 2012 she became the first female artist to draw the main Batman title for DC Comics.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
June 2, 2016
This comic is for people that love Emily Carroll's storytelling. Cloonan and Carrolll have a similar style of writing, dark, mysterious, and in-explainable. The art however is quite different, particularly with Carroll's use of bright red and blue, in contrast to Cloonan's paler tones.
July 9, 2013
i love it when there is a cost that must be paid at the end of a story & that must be paid in full. i love it when happiness is relinquished for emotional truth or when happiness costs sadness in those around the happy. i love it when the outcome is fated, and we feel the build-up from page to page (panel to panel). i love comic books. i love visual storytelling when the visuals are of equal or greater importane than the text. i love ink. i love black & white and shadow and shade. i love loss & death & pain & suffering. i love becky cloonan (my official comic book crush on the girl side). i love curses & the supernatural & lycanthropy & devolution. and Wolves is all of these things, so you know how i feel.
June 28, 2012
it's a mini-comic, so it's very short, and there are few words. the art is phenomenal, and becky's visual storytelling skills are sharper than wolves' teeth.
i wish i could give it five stars, but it left me wanting more words and more art. SERIOUSLY. KICK-ASS ART. :)
i wish i could give it five stars, but it left me wanting more words and more art. SERIOUSLY. KICK-ASS ART. :)
April 21, 2013
This is a comic short that has had so much love, care and thought put into it that one wants to turn through each page excruciatingly slowly, soaking up its atmosphere and reveling in its compact superior storytelling; even so I ultimately read this too hungrily, racing to the end, but still hoping that the next page wouldn't be the last. And yet the success of Cloonan's Wolves depends entirely on its brevity, giving us just a short intense glimpse of the pain and love of a man ordered to hunt a werewolf, reminiscing on past events that led him to the dire situation he now finds himself in. The specifics of the narrative are not entirely clear, but the tale involves an order from the king, a doomed tryst with a beautiful woman, a hunt, and a final tense, climactic battle with the werewolf itself. And then it's over.
The subtle narrative strategy makes this a success as much as the beauty of the artwork. Every story beat moves us forward, giving us information as well as excitement, and yet we're also asked - and keen - to fill in the gaps as we race forward through what is basically an action-scene fight with a werewolf. Cloonan gets the best of both worlds into 20 short pages making the reader feel that s/he has been on a journey far more epic, and lived in a world with far more depth than one can realistically squeeze into such a short comic. Give the reader the outline and emotion of the story and allow him/her to fill in the blanks. It's much cleverer than it looks on the surface.
This is fantasy written as it should be written and is well worth the tiny $0.99 asking price (for digital copies)
The subtle narrative strategy makes this a success as much as the beauty of the artwork. Every story beat moves us forward, giving us information as well as excitement, and yet we're also asked - and keen - to fill in the gaps as we race forward through what is basically an action-scene fight with a werewolf. Cloonan gets the best of both worlds into 20 short pages making the reader feel that s/he has been on a journey far more epic, and lived in a world with far more depth than one can realistically squeeze into such a short comic. Give the reader the outline and emotion of the story and allow him/her to fill in the blanks. It's much cleverer than it looks on the surface.
This is fantasy written as it should be written and is well worth the tiny $0.99 asking price (for digital copies)
November 9, 2015
Wolves is a moody supernatural fantasy that reads like a graphic poem than a straight story. Set in a time when people lived in castles and used swords on a daily basis, we meet our nameless narrator, naked and desperate, stumbling around in the woods. He tells us his sad story of being sent to kill a monstrous wolf in the forest by a king whose wife he is having an affair with. Somehow the two are connected as our narrator descends into a hellishly dark place from which he may never emerge.
The story isn’t as straightforward as The Mire as it jumps around a bit and Becky Cloonan keeps vital information unspoken. That said, it’s by no means a tough story to follow and the ending has a quiet devastation all of its own. As with The Mire, the best part of this comic is Cloonan’s incredible art. Her expressive use of black and white, the swirling figures blending into the impossibly romantic scenery and the perfect use of panel progression to tell the (albeit brief) story all make reading this a treat for the eyes.
But even more simply, it’s gorgeous to look at. Wolves is a comic whose high quality of artwork you rarely see in comics as quite often artists are pushed to hit monthly deadlines. The benefit of Cloonan taking her time drawing this comic is this stunning artwork that I find myself looking at every moment I have some downtime. That scene with the werewolf…
It’s also dead cheap. A full length comic for a handful of pennies? This is what digital comics should be instead what Marvel and DC charge which is 4, 5 times this at least. Wolves is a wonderful comic that readers of Mike Mignola and Dark Horse comics will especially respond to. More please, Becky!
The story isn’t as straightforward as The Mire as it jumps around a bit and Becky Cloonan keeps vital information unspoken. That said, it’s by no means a tough story to follow and the ending has a quiet devastation all of its own. As with The Mire, the best part of this comic is Cloonan’s incredible art. Her expressive use of black and white, the swirling figures blending into the impossibly romantic scenery and the perfect use of panel progression to tell the (albeit brief) story all make reading this a treat for the eyes.
But even more simply, it’s gorgeous to look at. Wolves is a comic whose high quality of artwork you rarely see in comics as quite often artists are pushed to hit monthly deadlines. The benefit of Cloonan taking her time drawing this comic is this stunning artwork that I find myself looking at every moment I have some downtime. That scene with the werewolf…
It’s also dead cheap. A full length comic for a handful of pennies? This is what digital comics should be instead what Marvel and DC charge which is 4, 5 times this at least. Wolves is a wonderful comic that readers of Mike Mignola and Dark Horse comics will especially respond to. More please, Becky!
May 22, 2020
This is only a short comic book but the author cleverly feeds us little snippets of the storyline leaving a feeling of mystery and leaves it open to interpretation.
We are shown a lone traveller in a medieval style setting tasked by a king to slay a beast, along with an injection of what appears to be a dangerous love affair. (The Witcher comes to mind).
Usually I prefer comic books that are in colour, but the dark, black-and-white artistic style marries perfectly with the story.
We are shown a lone traveller in a medieval style setting tasked by a king to slay a beast, along with an injection of what appears to be a dangerous love affair. (The Witcher comes to mind).
Usually I prefer comic books that are in colour, but the dark, black-and-white artistic style marries perfectly with the story.
January 6, 2015
Haber encontrado este comic me hizo sentir muchas cosas, en especial como van sucediendo los hechos, los recuerdos, las expresiones de los personajes y gracias al genial trabajo de Becky Cloonan, estoy sin palabras.
Quizás me hubiese gustado que fuese mas largo, pero tal vez no hubiese tenido ese encanto que tienen estas hojas.
Quizás me hubiese gustado que fuese mas largo, pero tal vez no hubiese tenido ese encanto que tienen estas hojas.
February 15, 2016
Ένα μικρός, ζοφερό κόμικς που το ανακάλυψα από την φίλη μου Γκέλλυ. Δεν γίνονται πολλά εδώ, δεν προλαβαίνουν άλλωστε. Αλλά αποτελεί ένα σπιντάτο διάλειμμα για έναν αναγνώστη, κάτα το οποίο θα γνωρίσει έναν ενδιαφέροντα καλλιτέχνη.
Καλός φαίνεται τούτος ο Κλούναν, λοιπόν.
Καλός φαίνεται τούτος ο Κλούναν, λοιπόν.
April 18, 2019
A cool short horror story, with a good narrative cadence. It's very mysterious and a second read is necessary to fully understand it and enjoy it. The cinematographic style is very interesting. The art is good: I enjoy this style but probably it won't be everybody's dish... Recommend it!
August 11, 2019
Powerful and heart-bleeding. Loved it.
September 24, 2023
Wolves – a graphic poem in the essence of Dracula with the scent of ‘A Song of Ice & Fire’. “The DESPERATION in her voice was palpable. .. My memories have left me prone.” ***
May 29, 2013
Becky Cloonan is quickly becoming one of my favourite people in comics. Her name was one I had been familiar with for a long time but I hadn't really been introduced to much of her stuff. I STILL don't have that many Cloonan works notched off but I'm getting there. There was her historic issue of Batman (in which Becky became the first woman to ever officially draw the Dark Knight), then there was The Mire, Demeter and now Wolves.
The thing that I love about Cloonan's art is that for me there's something really unique and distinct about what she does and yet she always makes it seem like it's exactly what should be on the page. Of course, the works I have mentioned have all been her own creations, except for Batman, but it still remains true. Comics need fresh art to keep things interesting and exciting and Cloonan has to be one of my favourite female creators out there.
But back to Wolves...
This is a short story that focuses on, well, wolves. More specifically it focuses on werewolves.
I think the thing that really gets me with Wolves (and even with my last Cloonan read, Demeter) is the subtle way that the story is told. You're given very few answers and that vagueness is a quality in these shorts. They stick with you and almost haunt you in a way as you try to work out all the twists and turns you've gone through in only a few pages.
Wolves follows a hunter who is tracking a beast that must be dispatched on behalf of the king. Hints of a forbidden love and some
Wolves was apparently original written for a Japanese anthology called Journeys back in 2009. Cloonan redid the script for the English version and added some new stuff and the result was magnificent.
Everytime I read something of Cloonan's, it leaves me wanting more and more. As someone who doesn't like flashy horror, this kind of quiet spooky really appeals to me in every kind of way. I like stuff that makes me think and opens the table up to discussion among other friends. Stories open to interpretation are so much more creative and are books that I'm prone to read over and over again.
VERDICT:
This is a no brainer: Buy it. I think I summed up pretty well everything I could possibly say about Wolves, so just keep an eye out for the comic at your local comic book shop (it would likely be in the convention zines section if your store has one) or order it online from Becky's brand new store, which is appropriately called there Werehouse.
The thing that I love about Cloonan's art is that for me there's something really unique and distinct about what she does and yet she always makes it seem like it's exactly what should be on the page. Of course, the works I have mentioned have all been her own creations, except for Batman, but it still remains true. Comics need fresh art to keep things interesting and exciting and Cloonan has to be one of my favourite female creators out there.
But back to Wolves...
This is a short story that focuses on, well, wolves. More specifically it focuses on werewolves.
I think the thing that really gets me with Wolves (and even with my last Cloonan read, Demeter) is the subtle way that the story is told. You're given very few answers and that vagueness is a quality in these shorts. They stick with you and almost haunt you in a way as you try to work out all the twists and turns you've gone through in only a few pages.
Wolves follows a hunter who is tracking a beast that must be dispatched on behalf of the king. Hints of a forbidden love and some
Wolves was apparently original written for a Japanese anthology called Journeys back in 2009. Cloonan redid the script for the English version and added some new stuff and the result was magnificent.
Everytime I read something of Cloonan's, it leaves me wanting more and more. As someone who doesn't like flashy horror, this kind of quiet spooky really appeals to me in every kind of way. I like stuff that makes me think and opens the table up to discussion among other friends. Stories open to interpretation are so much more creative and are books that I'm prone to read over and over again.
VERDICT:
This is a no brainer: Buy it. I think I summed up pretty well everything I could possibly say about Wolves, so just keep an eye out for the comic at your local comic book shop (it would likely be in the convention zines section if your store has one) or order it online from Becky's brand new store, which is appropriately called there Werehouse.
September 18, 2016
Honestly, I'm not sure why this one resonates with me so, but I've read it at least a dozen times and it's just completely beautiful to me. Demeter and The Mire are gorgeous as well, but there's just something about this one.
January 29, 2016
This is the first time I read a stand alone comic. It was short, effect, simple and scary. Had a very memorable part where the main character is shocked by the werewolves eyes, instead of the claws, or teeth or size. The EYES that scared him. that reall stayed with me. Was great, but to me, overall, it wasn't enough. I want more!
January 7, 2015
I was never much into comics, before discovering Becky Cloonan's Wolves. I adore her style and the story she set out here. Wolves is exactly as long as it needs to be to deliver the story it sets out. I'm a convert.
November 14, 2016
Lo tuve que leer dos veces para tratar de entender ese final, y aún así este sigue siendo ambiguo y sorprendente a la vez.
Genial obra de Cloonan, hubiera deseado que sea más larga ya que la obra se lee de un sólo tiron, no obstante cumple con su propósito.
Genial obra de Cloonan, hubiera deseado que sea más larga ya que la obra se lee de un sólo tiron, no obstante cumple con su propósito.
December 11, 2012
Visually beautiful. Romantic and tragic.
January 11, 2013
Becky Cloonan is a super talent. Get everything she does. This haunting bit is a real treasure.
March 16, 2013
Didn't grab me. I give her credit for going for something though.
June 2, 2013
I wish this one had been longer + more back history, but it was a mini comic. Very interesting story, and I really liked the art.
(Read on June 02, 2013.)
(Read on June 02, 2013.)
December 6, 2013
Good character and dark atmosphere. Wanted a tiny bit more from the characters' relationship and the plot twist, but it was certainly well-done.
July 28, 2013
Dark, gripping and mysterious.
October 29, 2013
Perfect.
June 11, 2016
Beautiful and mysterious. I've never read anything by this author but I think I'll be reading more!
June 10, 2015
Love the illustration as per usual but wasn't sure I really understood the story.
September 30, 2014
Beautiful
February 12, 2017
3.5 stars
September 4, 2016
Beautiful, mysterious and elegantly told. Cloonan knows exactly when to back away from words and let the art do the storytelling.
January 26, 2021
Another moody and poetic Cloonan tale in the vein of The Mire. The art is beautiful, the story hits ya in the heart bone... It's good stuff. Read it if you get a chance.
May 2, 2018
Podéis ver la reseña completa aquí ^.^ http://somuchmorethanpaper.blogspot.c...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews