As I understand it, there are a total of seven volumes to Richard Moore's 'Boneyard' graphic novel series, but I only have four, so this is my final review for now. I've enjoyed my time spent in Raven's Hollow, where Michael Paris inherits a cemetery from his grandfather that's populated by a weird array of what the locals would likely call monsters: vampires, demons, gargoyles, werewolves, you name it. Initially, our sympathies are entirely with the denizens of the cemetery, even Glump, who is professionally obnoxious and wants to take over the world. However, the townsfolk have settled down somewhat since being rabbleroused into a torches and pitchfork brigade by Satan himself, in disguise as their mayor.

The third volume was the weakest thus far, mostly because a good chunk of it was dedicated to the swimsuit edition that Glump put together in order to a) include subliminal messages to further his world domination plan;, b) showcase female occupants of the cemetery such as vampire Abbey and Nessie, a creature from the black lagoon type, in as little clothing as humanly possible; and c) way down the list, earn enough money so Paris can pay off the cool half million dollars he owes the IRS, on account of his grandfather never paying his taxes.

Needless to say, only b) actually works and, while Moore has a particular style in drawing monster cheesecake photos, ably hinting at the fact that he also draws erotica comics, the concept gets old pretty quickly. Sure, I enjoyed them but I also enjoy story and it took a long while for book three to really get into high gear during its second half. This one gets going quicker, but it's rather all over the place, as if Moore isn't really sure what he wanted to do with it. Some of it works very well but other sections fall a little flat.

Initially, we return to Glump's plans to take over the world, which, following his failure to actually make his subliminal messages in the swimsuit edition subliminal, now involve creating Doomsday Frog. Now, Doomsday Frog is precisely what you might expect, with Glump as the mad scientist in classic mode, but rather inept, because he has absolutely no ability to control his creation, and so leading to shenanigans.

However, just as that subplot is getting under way, we shift back to Abbey, who's recovering after a boss battle at the end of book three. Paris is constantly by her side as she does so, because, in this mythology, she isn't one of those vampires who can heal any wound just like that. If we didn't like Abbey already, and she's easily the most sympathetic character in the series, we have to start this time out, because she takes care of Paris's IRS debt on the sly, selling her genuine Rembrandt that he painted of her. We can be absolutely sure that Abbey and Paris will end up together, as much as we know they won't manage it yet because that has to be something left for the end of the series.

And so Nessie takes advantage. When Paris asks questions to find out who cleared his debt, Nessie happily claims to be the one and that sneaks her ahead of her competition because Abbey refuses to take the credit fairly due to her. The negative side is that, as infuriatingly cute as Nessie is for a creature from the black lagoon, I've never really got onto her side. Fortunately, Moore takes the opportunity here to flesh out some of her back story and that allows us to finally garner sympathy for her, at least to a degree, on top of enjoying all the situation comedy.

And, just in case you're wondering which of these various subplots dominates the book and turns into the point of this volume, I'll point out instead that it turns into a zombie comic about halfway through. Why, I'm not entirely clear, but it does set up a particular moment that I presume will be important for volume five. But hey, maybe not. Moore has a habit of flouting our expectations by setting up the next big thing only to diminish it and move onto something else, like, for instance, the abiding mystery about how Paris is going to pay off the IRS, which was introduced in book two, only to be taken care of just-like-that here.

That makes this a frustrating series. My favourite angle is probably the humour, because Moore is agreeably wacky in the ways he sets up his supernatural sitcom. After that, it's probably the idea, which is a glorious one that offers a vast amount of potential for neverending storylines. Then it's the characters, who are all set up to have similar potential, only to then often be relegated to just a running gag or two. Way down at the bottom of the list is the storylines, which struggle to keep focus, especially when there are so many of them battling it out for dominance in this book.

At the end of the day, I'm happy I stuck it out to read all four volumes that I have on the shelf, and I'll keep my eyes open for the remaining three volumes, but I don't feel a burning desire to shell out the cash to buy them new. They're quirky and enjoyable books, but they're not as essential as I was hoping they would be, starting out. ~~ Hal C F Astell

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