Shuck #1
Written by Rick Smith and Tania Menesse
Artwork by Rick Smith
Published by Shuck Comics
Here is a totally unexpected delight that I can recommend wholeheartedly.
Shuck Comics #1 features a book-length story titled "Hallowed Seasonings." The tale, about pagans and children and ghosts, oh my, is utterly charming and the storytelling is delightful and startlingly mature. I should note that two more issues have been published, but I've not yet read #2, and I need to track down #3. After reading the first issue, I have every intention of doing so.
The title character of Shuck is a goat-like supernatural creature (who we learn previously worked "down below in the nether regions") named Shuck who, on every other day of the year, wears a human mask to hide his true appearance. On "Hallowed Eve," though, he can show his true face, although his close friend Thursday Friday, a young girl of some charm and determination, believes that the goat-face is the mask. It's a delightful moment in the story, when she reminds him it's not time for grown-ups to yet wear their masks, and he "removes" his by replacing his human mask and hiding his true self. Goat or human, though, Shuck is kind and thoughtful and sad, having lost his wife. He hopes to see her tonight, the one night that the "Wall tween us and them is thinnest."
Thursday Friday's grandfather has also recently died, and Shuck knows that he will return tonight and he prepares the young girl for trick or treating with him. Ghosts, it seems, don't get much candy on the other side, and crave the goodies that are handed out on halloween. Other than helping Thursday Friday, though, Shuck's primary job each year is to make sure the ghosts are unable to go about "cussin' may hemmed," or causing mayhem, to translate for you. The may hemmed they do end up causing is both hilarious and touching in its way.
The artwork is gorgeous, with hints of James Kochalka and Palookaville's Seth. The antique appearance of the paper stock works with the excellent shading to give the black and white artwork a depth and reality that is surprisingly powerful and complete. I am unaware of any previous work by Smith and Menesse, but if this is their first effort, this is a title that could have major impact on the alternative comics community, not to mention on any reader lucky enough to encounter it.
The tale is told in an odd kind of dialect, a bit cajun, some Vermont yankee perhaps. It took me two readings to really begin to appreciate how its rhythm and cadence adds to the story. This is a familiar place the story takes place in, but not quite like any place I've ever been. The final lesson, that the ghosts are good folks if they can be diverted from mayhem, is one that is really universal and applies equally to the living. The story, and its message, are damned impressive for a first issue by previously unknown creators. We find in this issue a complete, fully-drawn world with interesting, unique and diverse characters. I hope to return to this place, the world of Shuck, again and again.