Gloomcookie TPB vol. 1
Review by Dindrane
Story:
Art:

Written by Serena Valentino
Illustrated by Ted Naifeh

Published by Slave Labor Publications
Contents: Issues 1-6 plus bonus material
Price: $18.95 USD

My advice: Buy it for every goth you know.

In the last few years, the goth lifestyle and aesthetic has enjoyed brief surges of (gulp) trendiness. The result of this was a flood of literature, music, and movies, all targeted at poseurs and wannabes, as well as the "real" goths. Luckily for comic readers everywhere, some of these works, like Gloomcookie, were not only gother than thou, they were good.

Gloomcookie serves up a delightful combination of satire and backhanded praise that will have many a goth nodding their head in recognition. This is not to say that Gloomcookie is a scathing critique of all things gawth... on the contrary, it's almost an homage. But we all know that there are overdone aspects of goth culture and have spent time ourselves shaking our heads over the bad, angsty poetry that all babygoffs feel drawn to write, as well as the cliché goth-girl uniform of black tulle skirt and Death hat, that no goth would actually be caught alive wearing (anymore). It's these things that are all too familiar that Gloomcookie reviews, as well as the things that draw goths to goth in the first place.

The art is delightfully and appropriately dark and somewhat angular. There are beautiful passages, as well as scary, especially the monster-under-the-bed section. Naifeh's aesthetic is perfect for the subject-matter--lovely and dark at the same time, as well as clear and interesting.

The characters are amusing, if occasionally (intentionally) one-dimensional: lovesick, previously perky Vermilion and sly Chrys especially. Yes, sometimes they're immature, vindictive, oversexed, or just plain silly... but people are sometimes all those things, even, yes, goths. These characters even cuss and talk seriously about stupid things... but don't we sometimes? Honestly?

The collection of stories in this first volume include a dream sequence that is more faery tale than traditional comic story, and other shorts that take the characters through their world and ask them to interact in revealing, often amusing or tragic ways. The real stand-out segment is the circus sequence, with a family for whom surrealism is a way of life. Sociological commentary mixed with a tale of escaped circus freaks...who can resist?

Goths and non-goths alike will enjoy Gloomcookie for its clever plotting and interesting stories. Luckily, the understanding here is that gothdom is a subculture that can laugh at itself. Remember, if you don't learn how to laugh at yourself, no one will give you a good wake. And what could be a worse fate for a Goth? It's difficult to write a parody and expect the parodied ones to like your creation, but Gloomcookie seems to have done it; it's clever, witty, dark, and disturbed... and what goth wouldn't love that?