There have not been very many good werewolf movies in the last few years, and when pressed it would be hard to come up with one.  The single place where you will find one is on the printed page from Avatar Press with Ferals by David Lapham and Gabriel Andrade.  It is also by far one of the best horror comics on the stands today in a market that has few titles of such a genre.  Avatar puts out most of them including Crossed, Stitched, the Living Dead titles and more, and there are a few others such as Rachel Rising by Terry Moore and Justice League Dark which is more an adventure book so Ferals is a welcome reprieve from most of the self-same books.

The lead character, Dale Chesnutt is something of a backwater hick sheriff when we first meet him, but as the story progresses he is forced to grow up and he soon becomes a leader, both smart and full of purpose.  He is still used by others, whether it is the government or the townsfolk he comes into contact with, but he is of his own mind when he chooses to do something and no longer the drunkard and loser he once was.

As previously stated, this is a werewolf book and Dale soon comes into contact with some, not knowing he does so.  Soon his life changes forever and over the course of the series meets many of them – at first wanting to exterminate them and then coming to understand them and becoming their protectors.  Lapham explores Dale’s character to the fullest, fleshing him out over the course of the series.  It is refreshing to not have the standard hero figure in the book and to see the lead character as someone as far from your typical protagonist as is normally portrayed.

Lapham also takes a tried and true concept as lycanthropy and turns it on its head into something entirely new.  He breaks new ground in his exploration of its contagion and transformation which is really nice to see.  He also takes the idea of the pack and changes that up as well.  You can see a little bit of True Blood in the mix, whether he watches the show/reads the books or not, which is fine for what he has crafted is a beast unto itself.  When it comes to tried and true horror themes, more originality is needed and it is welcome to see David Lapham take the reins and do so.

The art by Gabriel Andrade is also quite fantastic as it is not the usual fare most people are used to.  It looks dirty and rough, the men look harsh and worn, the women beaten and broken and the wolves brutal and dangerous.  The art is seductive when it needs to be and utterly grotesque in its violence.  As each issue progresses it also improves from the last as Andrade gets a better handle on the story and characters.  Andrade needs to be on more books in the future, whether at another publisher or remaining at Avatar. His art style really grows on you and evokes the perfect tone for a book about horror.

There are not too many books about werewolves out right now, in fact there may only be two and the other, George R.R. Martin’s Skin Trade, is also published by Avatar.  It is not to say that the market needs to be flooded with books about the subject, but if they are of the same quality and calibre and as innovative as Ferals they would be welcomed gladly.

4.5 out of 5