Page 45 Review by Stephen
The darkest hours aren't necessarily at midnight.
GHOST WORLD for goths with pvc, piercings and hair dye - that's how WET MOON started out: an empathic exploration of the uneasy friendships between a group of hesitant, second-guessing, slightly paranoid girls at college, and a celebration of their far-from-standard body forms with the silkiest, most tender of art. Over five previous volumes those friendships have expanded and blossomed or withered and died. Some have shared secrets, as do more here.
But all along there were intimations of heart-ache and horror lurking beneath the surface, as if something was simmering in the swamp all around them, and then someone they never noticed stewing within. In WET MOON VOL 5 she finally erupted, her seething psychosis taken out on one of those friends in act of extreme violence which made everyone I know truly wince.
This is the emotional fall-out, and it's handled with all the depth it deserves.
So many other creators would have cut all too quickly to the chase - the pursuit of the culprit concerned - but that's not what happens in real life. Instead they are left dazed, bewildered by a butchery they could never see coming and still, throughout, oblivious to its source. All they care about is their friend. She's the only person who knows who did it, and I'm afraid she's deep in a coma.
Six volumes in, I have to be ever so careful what I say, but I hope I've intrigued potential new readers. I love this series so much that I've reviewed every volume and this isn't my best shot, I know.
Everyone handles grief differently, unpredictably, depending on where they are right then in their lives. Sophie Campbell has entirely understood that. Her humanity and sympathy leaps from every page. No one is judged, and as they struggle to console each other whilst needing consolation themselves, we wait for our woman to wake up. Will she?
"I hate this waiting, Mara. Waiting an' waiting for somethin' to happen. Takes so much energy."
Lots of lingering silence and exceptional use of clothing...
Once again, this is far from predictable. Not everyone wears their true hearts on their sleeves.
