Salem Brownstone: All Along the Watchtowers »

John Harris Dunning has written for many leading newspapers and magazines. SALEM BROWNSTONE, his first graphic novel, was first serialized in the U.K. anthology STURGEON WHITE MOSS. Born in South Africa, he now lives in London.

Nikhil Singh’s artwork has appeared in numerous major magazines. Besides working as an illustrator, he performs in the post-punk band The Wild Eyes. He lives in London.

"Wonderfully imaginative and stylish. . . . A perfect example of the adventurous new directions that comic books should be taking in the future." — Alan Moore, author of WATCHMEN and V FOR VENDETTA

A mundane life takes a strange and magical turn in this rich gothic fantasy told with vivid black-and-white art — a graphic novel perfect for a Halloween night. As he twists the key and slowly creeps into the grand mansion left to him in his father's will, Salem Brownstone has an eerie feeling that his world is about to change. First there's the appearance of a beguiling contortionist from Dr. Kinoshita's Circus of Unearthly Delights . . . then a crystal ball . . . then an attack by the sinister Shadow Boys. It seems the father that Salem never knew was actually a powerful magician, and the son has inherited his dark legacy — and an unfinished battle for life or death. With intriguing echoes of Tim Burton, Edward Gorey, H. P. Lovecraft, and Aubrey Beardsley, this album-format, beautifully cloth-bound graphic novel forges a mesmerizing style all its own.

Children's Literature

Back in the 1960s, comic book artist Steve Ditko blew more than a few young minds with his surreal illustrations in Marvel Comics' Strange Tales, a bizarre comic that followed the adventures of Dr. Strange, a sorcerer who journeyed to eerie alien dimensions to challenge the living embodiments of nightmares, time, and even the universe. Now, almost fifty years later, self-taught artist Singh continues this mind-bending tradition in Salem Brownstone. Story-wise, the tale is pretty standard: young Salem Brownstone inherits his dead father's mansion and learns that the elder Brownstone was a magician charged with keeping evil forces from invading the human dimension. Aided by his father's chain-smoking contortionist friend, Salem must decipher the secrets of an old scrying ball and learn how to assume his father's responsibilities before time runs out and the evil his father held back enters the human world. It is a familiar plot for fantasy fans—and in truth it has been used more effectively in other books—yet Singh's pen-and-ink illustrations are so jam-packed with bizarre details that this graphic novel practically demands multiple viewings. All the characters are wonderfully grotesque, particularly the rubber-limbed contortionist (whose arms and legs are constantly twisting at bone-breaking angles) and the jellyfish-woman Lorelei (whose brain and internal organs are visible through her transparent skin). Even seemingly minor details add to the book's memorably morbid atmosphere—like a candle-headed demon that travels a great distance just to light the cigar of a living cadaver, or the contortionist's coal-powered motorcycle, which looks like a cross between an old shoe and the Batmobile. It is not a book for the squeamish—and it remains more of a triumph of style than of substance—but in terms of sheer bizarre imagery, graphic novel fans can definitely appreciate Salem Brownstone's contributions to the fantasy genre. Reviewer: Michael Jung