A comic book about a vampire count? Why not?
Labeled for “moo-chure audiences,” COWNT TALES #1 is just that, in an anthology format, with three stories about The Cownt, all written by Michael May. The first, “Stake Dinner,” is an origin tale of how an otherwise unassuming, grass-chomping bovine became a caped bloodsucker. In the second, “Udder Nonsense,” he seeks out a doctor to remove his udders, because a creature of the night needs to strike terror in the hearts of his victims, and having hanging milk-squirters doesn’t quite cut it. (Although it does make for a sexually charged sight gag in the final tale.)
And that one is “Lactose Intolerance,” in which a female vampire hunter (Penny, not Buffy) approaches The Cownt resting in his coffin with an aim to exterminate. It’s not as easy as it sounds.
Speaking of sounds, this black-and-white book is rife with cattle puns. If that was all May could do, the project would equate to a mushy cow pattie, but he has a sharp wit about him, so COWNT TALES flies with a smile-ready spirit. Although it’s styled like a EC-hosted horror affair, humor is the name of the game, and May’s stable of artists — Gavin Spence, Paul Taylor and Jessica Hickman — pull it off with pizazz. Usually, indie comics projects of this kind lack in the art department; no such trouble here.
The best praise you can give a homegrown book like COWNT TALES is that you’d like to see more. And I sure as hell would. —Rod Lott
Related posts:
- Tales Designed to Thrizzle: Volume One
- Western Tales of Terror
- X-Men: Fairy Tales
- Tales from the Crypt: No. 1 – Ghouls Gone Wild!
- Bunny Tales: Behind Closed Doors at the Playboy Mansion
