GloomCookie #28

GloomCookie #28, October 2006, SLG Publishing
writer: Serena Valentino
artist: Vincent Batignole
letterer: Joshua Archer
editor: Jennifer de Guzman

Although I was initially discouraged by this issue's "Previously in GloomCookie" blurb, which seemed to entrenched in goth soap opera continuity to attract new readers like me, I was surprised by the ease with which I succumbed subsequent story. GloomCookie #28 is a fairly linear tale about a melodramatic, broken-hearted eccentric whose poetry attracts a vampire sect to recruit him, and who in turn unwittingly bites the psycho-chick stalking him, so they can "be together for eternity!" Obviously, a ghoulish consequence for an already devilish lifestyle, but such is love, I presume. Indeed, with Valentine's Day right around the corner, this issue presented an interesting introduction to my brief series reviewing romantic comics -- comics which are traditionally appealing to a generally feminine audience, but in this case, targets a niche crowd. Indeed, I was reminded of Serenity Rose, another "goth comic" that implemented heavy black and white contrast in its interior art, perhaps for effect as much as budgetary restrictions. Still, I enjoyed this issue a tad more, as its characters, while dark in nature, didn't take themselves so seriously as to alienate casual readers like me. In fact, the very combination of the words "gloom" and cookie" imply something dark, but contrastingly easy to swallow. The author's supplemental essay reveals that this is the last ongoing issue of the title, which explains is climactic sense of self-enclosure. Indeed, I had nothing to fear from the context of GloomCookie; all romances, after all, have their respective baggage. Has that ever stopped us from butting in before?