Review by C.J. Bunce

Why did James Reynolds’ twin sister die the day she claimed a black hound “ran through her”?  Is neighbor Mrs. Walker really a witch?  A Call to Cthulhu writer-artist Norm Konyu is back with his next graphic novel, a supernatural Gothic story called Downlands, available this week in comic book stores everywhere and here at Amazon.  Folk stories through British, Celtic, and Roman history retell stories of black hounds as portents of coming dread (my own black hounds would raise a skeptical eye to this).  Konyu, a past animator for the BBC, Nickelodeon, DreamWorks, and Cartoon Network, ups his game with a 300-page story incorporating folk tales and myths, merging the frameworks of the classic supernatural film of teen angst Donnie Darko and the time-hopping eerie TV series Marchlands.

This story could have been a standard novel, but Konyu’s unique artistry lends itself to the cold and dread experienced by the characters.  Their stories are told chapter by chapter from shifting years, interweaving spirits, ghosts, and dark stories of unsolved crimes and other mysteries, all set in a village in the South Downs of England.  Fans of the British Marchlands TV series and its successor Lightfields, will think this story is a literal sequel to those series.

As a teen struggling with his own identity after the loss of his twin sister, James’s path mirrors that of the protagonist in Donnie Darko, including Donnie’s encounters with the mysterious woman who knows more than anyone about the secret world behind all his fears.  That insular community, despite shifting eras, may recall The Village of The Prisoner, too–that suspenseful sense of impending dread, knowing that James is in for some foul end.  Does he get there?  You’ll have to read the book to find out.

Konyu’s fun use of partially hidden clues are fun, like his black cat and a white beagle dog.  And an old red Ford truck.  What is a sign of magic and what isn’t?  How do superstitions continue in a town like Alfstanton?  How much of it points to blood spilt and worse in the history of Anytown, Anywhere?

Konyu makes great use of “found items,” images of ephemera instead of the actual things, like you’d find in a book of old treasures, all moving the story in new directions and providing clues to the past.

You might find a little Dead Poet’s Society and The X-Files: Cold Case Unit here, and the style and genre is similar to Kim Newman’s recent brilliant book A Christmas Ghost Story.  Like The Twilight Zone episode, the only thing missing here is a physicist.  If you like The Sixth Sense, Portrait of Jennie, and Unsolved Mysteries, this book is for you.  This is different from all of them, but taps into bits and pieces that make them all good, maybe with a John Carpenter edge.  Not quite as dark as Prince of Darkness.  But close.

Here’s a trailer for the book:

A suspenseful journey into the past and back again, add Downlands to your comic shop pull list now, or pick up a copy from Elite Comics or your local comic shop.  It’s also available from Amazon here this week.