Ragemoor Hardcover – November 20, 2012

My first reaction on opening RAGEMOOR was -- "Oh. Not color art." But the first few pages of Corben's subtly shaded, atmospheric black-white-and-gray-toned work got me over that pretty quickly.The story features the last few members of a family dwelling in a weird, isolated castle, with monstrous servants, and even more monstrous things burrowing in the depths beneath ... a Lovecraftian tale, reminding me of the adaptations of stories by Lovecraft (of course), Clark Ashton Smith, and others that Corben did for backups in his Fantagor Press releases of DENSAGA and other titles, and of Corben and Simon Revelstoke's adaptation of William Hope Hodgson's HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND -- actually, it reminds me of those so much that everything here is pretty familiar. But Strnad doesn't really either tell a straight "traditional" tale of the genre, or ring in any majorly original changes in the formula. Instead, a lot of the story elements feel just kind of dropped in, like a cook would throw almost-random chunks of this and that into a stew pot. Those "monstrous servants" are brought on-camera without any kind of drama ... there are man-sized, skull-faced "baboons" roaming around the castle; where'd they come from? (and where do they go? they figure prominently in Chapter 2, but then appear on only one page of the second half of the book) and where is this supposed to be taking place, anyway? The setting is left entirely vague and generic. The 96-page story has only a few characters, and as another reviewer more or less puts it, they start out crazy and get crazier, so there's not a whole lot to see there ... The first chapter is a good beginning, but then things go kind of wobbly.And in fact, the art ended up being something of a disappointment, as well. The richly shaded, modeled, detailed art that initially reconciled me to the lack of color begins to fade out in places in Chapter 2, and is entirely gone by Chapters 3 and 4; compared to Chapter 1, the art in the second half of the book is simpler, flatter, sketchier, with fewer detailed backgrounds -- fewer panels with backgrounds at all, for that matter -- and fewer of the imaginative visual treatments that make a reader go wow! It's as if Corben had all the time he wanted or needed to work on the first episode, a little less for the second, and by the third and fourth was being forced by deadline pressure -- or something -- to cut corners and just get the basics on paper. If the art all the way through had been like the art in Chapter 1, I would probably have overlooked a lot of the things that made me feel dissatisfied with the story; but it wasn't.RAGEMOOR is not bad; it's just not nearly either creator's best or most imaginative work.

For all those who really love comics this is a must to have. Richard Corben has mastering the art of tellying stories with ink and paper, and we can tell he really loves the atmospheres of old school classic horror literature, Poe, Lovecraft and others.

I've been a fan of Corben's work since his days in HeavyMetal magazine. He hasn't lost a step in this horror comic mini series that was one of the best reads of 2012. What's more, Jan Strnad's writing captures the right mix of dread and grand guignol that takes full advantage of Corben's art.

Richard Corben is an amazing comic artist better appreciated and well known outside the USA by far. May be because he is not much into the superhero industry. The story is really bizarre which I love! I use to find most of his work back in Europe.

I love the story line. Definitely has a tales from the dark side feel to it. Richard Corben is an awesome artist as well.

How much weirdness can you handle? That is the question to ask yourself before you dive into "Ragemoor." Cockroach cooks, skull-faced baboons, Giant bug cults in the basement, and a man blowing up like a balloon then popping and spewing maggots all over. That's how "Ragemoor" rolls.I knew nothing about "Ragemoor" before opening its covers other than that it was Richard Corben doing Gothic horror. That right there was enough get my interest. Corben has been active recently drawing Mike Mignola's  Hellboy  stories and some recent work in "Dark Horse Presents," but it has been awhile since I have seen him working on an original series. Jan Strnad is an old writing partner of Corben's, and seeing those two names together was more than enough to seal the deal."Ragemoor" is the story of a castle. A dark and twisted castle, Ragemoor has grown organically from stone, blood, and evil over the millennia. Its first stones were laid over 3,000 years before the birth of Christ, and human sacrifice and dark rituals fed the stones until they grew large and formed structure. Even now Ragemoor is not silent, but reshapes its corridors and rooms every night to suit its own fancy.Trapped in Ragemoor is a family. How they came to live there, or what their attachment is to Ragemoor we get only hints at. Some of the members are allowed to leave, to seek their fortune elsewhere, while some are slowly driven mad inside its walls. The last remaining inhabitants are Cousin Herbert and his uncle Machlan. While Herbert is resigned to his fate, Machlan has been driven mad and now roams the castle naked, climbing up the walls like an ape. Old family arrive from America, a long-lost uncle and his beautiful daughter Anoria. They do not believe in the story of Ragemoor, and plan to steal it from Herbert and Machlan, then tear it down and see what treasures lie beneath.But Ragemoor has other ideas."Ragemoor" is comics horror at its finest. Jan Strnad and Richard Corben slowly build to a stunning climax, with each chapter piling more and more weirdness on the readers, removing any foundation of sanity until you are adrift in a world where anything can happen and does. They tap into some perfect blend of Poe, Lovecraft, and 1950s monster-chiller-horror-theater that captures the best elements without coming off as cheesy or contrived. I can't remember the last time a comic legitimately scared me. I love horror comics, but most of them are cool fun rather than scary. Few comic books actually make me squinch when I turn a page, or shudder at the sheer grotesquery on display. "Ragemoor" did just that.And Richard Corben's art. Man, the guy just gets better and better. There is no plateau. Corben is like an aged single malt whisky, with depth and maturity added by years. With each new comic, with each new panel of each new comic, he delivers something new and unique and beautiful that can't be matched by any other artist. He doesn't need to sign his name to his work, his work is his signature. A character smiling in one of his comics is the most chilling scenes you can read, because that character is almost certainly mad. And Corben gets to play in Ragemoor. Without the confines of a deep story, he fills the comic full of his particular dark vision, in glorious black-and-white. His work on "Ragemoor" is Corben at his best.One of the things I enjoyed about "Ragemoor" is that I had no idea what is coming next. From panel to panel, I could never guess where the story is going. Strnad and Corben seem less concerned with putting forth a coherent story than with playing with Gothic tropes and filling each panel with as much weirdness as possible. I was sometimes unsure of their intentions; Is this a straight-forward horror story? Is it a parody? Is it both? Some of the scenes are so outrageous that I am sure they must be having a laugh, but then the tone is deadly serious.I don't think this is a comic for everyone. "Ragemoor" is only recommended for those with a high tolerance and appreciation for the bizarre. I can't imagine a casual reader picking this up and enjoying it. But if you like that sort of thing -- if you want to be unbalanced and disturbed -- then "Ragemoor" is right for you.I am glad that Dark Horse collected "Ragemoor" in this hardback edition. It certainly deserves it. And like all of Dark Horse's excellent collected editions, we get a glimpse of Corben's sketchbook in the back. This was an eye-opener for me. It is amazing to see Corben's craft, how he starts with relatively normal looking characters then slowly devolves them into Corben-folk. A much-appreciated bonus to this edition.

Beautiful Corben artwork, but the story wasn't so gripping.Quality printing and well packaged. Very pleased overall, check out his collected works for Creepy.

Bis auf den Namen ist es eine wahrlich lovecraftsche Geschichte. Viel mehr kann ich gar nicht sagen, sonst komme ich in Spoiler-Gefahr.Jedenfalls hat mich die Geschichte sehr an H.P.s Die Ratten im Gemäuer erinnert. Die Zeichnungen sind super, die Story sehr fokusiert und die Charaktere realistisch (innerhalb dieser Geschichte). Die Welt selbst spielt glaube ich in keiner tatsächlichen Periode, da aber sowieso alles innerhalb der Mauern oder im nahen Umland spielt ist das keineswegs irritierend.

E' sicuramente una delle cose migliori di Corben, devo dire che mi ha sorpreso molto. Parlo della storia di Strnad, ma anche la scelta del bianco e nero, e i disegni. Inoltre l'edizione è discretamente curata. A mio avviso ineccepibile, imperdibile per gli amanti dell'horror e ancor di più per gli amanti di Corben.

Corben just keeps getting better!!!! I believe the man is around 70 and still can do this!!!! Beggars belief, it really does. Great old school horror series.

Vielleicht kennen Sie das: Es gibt Autoren, auf deren Neuveröffentlichungen Sie sich stets freuen und die Sie noch nie enttäuscht haben.Richard Corben ist ein solcher Künstler und mit seinem bewährten Partner Jan Strnad hat er mit "Ragemoor" erneut eine düstere, beklemmende Welt erschaffen. Wer das Gefühl mag, welches die Lektüre von Howard Phillips Lovecraft Werken hinterlässt, sollte sich Ragemoor in einer stillen Stunde nach Sonnenuntergang gönnen. Ähnlich wie das Lesen guter Humoresken gelegentlich laute Lacher produziert, schaffen Strnad und Corben hier mit der neunten Kunst jene verstörende und beunruhigende Aura, die Orte umgibt, die einen magisch anziehen, von denen man aber, ist man erst dort, fühlt, daß man sich an ihnen nicht aufhalten sollte. Die Bilder (ich kann bei Corben selten nur von Zeichnungen sprechen) sind nicht einfach schwarz/weiß, wie ich in einer anderen Rezension las; vielmehr glänzt Corben hier erneut durch wunderbar getuschte Farbverläufe, die trotz der vielen grafischen Elemente, beispielsweise in Kombination mit seinen stets klaren Outlines, das Dargestellte oft mehr als plastisch wirken lassen.Der Aufbau der panels ist Corben-typisch ein gut funktionierendes Mittel, um das Tempo dieser oft rhytmisch treibendenden Geschichte genau zu lenken. Als "eye candy" können sich Leser diese Buches auf den Abdruck der farbigen Coverillustrationen als Kapitelunterteilungen dieses Ursprünglich in vier Teilen herausgegebenen Comics freuen.Wem die Comicadaption von William Hope Hodgson's "The House On The Borderland" (natürlich auch aus R. Corben's Zeichenfeder!) gefallen hat, sollte sich Ragemoor zu Gemüte führen.