DANDY PRESENTS: PENNY DREADFULS (ONE-SHOT), from Source Point Press on August 24th, 2022, regales readers with three Victorian-era horror stories created by the best up-and-coming LGBTQ+ creators.
The Details
- Written by: Brent Fisher, Jaysea Williams, Keith Frady
- Art by: Rachel Distler, Seth Abair, V. Gagnon, Kel Neveu
- Colors by: Rachel Distler, Seth Abair, V. Gagnon, Kel Neveu
- Letters by: Rachel Distler, Seth Abair, V. Gagnon, Kel Neveu
- Cover art by: Nolan Nasser
- Cover price: $3.99
- Release date: August 24, 2022
Is It Good?
DANDY PRESENTS: PENNY DREADFULS (ONE-SHOT) is Source Point’s latest foray into providing a platform for LGBTQ+ comics creators. On the whole, the stories are decent enough. As with most anthologies, some stories are stronger than others, but the overall reading experience is mildly amusing.
The strongest of the three stories is Masquerade with an interesting art style and a subversive take on a spy-mission-gone-wrong in her Majesty’s Secret service. The horror twist is unexpected, and the ending leaves room for a follow-up.
The weakest of the three stories is the first, an unnamed story centering on a woman and her cat. The plot has very little setup, the art style is the least mature in the anthology, and the ending appears to be going somewhere but simply stops.
On the whole, this collection does exactly what Penny Dreadfuls should do – give readers quick, little horror shorts to pass the time. On that count, it’s a success.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
As with all our anthology reviews, we’ll touch on each story separately and point out what did or did not work.
Unnamed
A young woman walks down an alley at night when she encounters a cat looking for attention. She gives the cat a few scraps of food and sits a while to give the cat some attention. Suddenly, a knife-wielding killer emerges from the shadows to claim his next victim, but the cat has other ideas.
Again, this story is the weaker of the three for its lack of clear setup, clunky ending, and immature art. That said, the twist involving the cat comes out of nowhere and leaves room for future potential.
Chimney Sweep Twinks
A young chimney sweep looking for work approaches a large house whose owners haven’t been seen in weeks. An elderly woman answers the door and eagerly accepts his offer to clean her flue. When the deed is done, the boy wanders the house looking for the old woman to collect payment. What he finds will drain your blood dry.
The art style in this story is the most compatible with modern comics in terms of action, sound effects, panel composition, and more. The ironic/tragic twist ending is strong enough to rank with a solid episode of Tales From The Crypt or The Twilight Zone.
Masquerade
An undercover agent in service to the Queen is tasked with looking for a traitor on the night of a masquerade ball. The spy finds his smooth-talking, attractive target and uses his willowy charms to steal the target’s key to search the manor during the hubbub of the ball. The spy doesn’t find a spy bent on taking over the Queen’s government, but the dark ritual he encounters portends something much worse.
This short has the most interesting art of the three, and the story feels the most complete. The horror twist is wholly unexpected, and the ending leaves the door open for proper follow-up.
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Final Thoughts
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DANDY PRESENTS: PENNY DREADFULS (ONE-SHOT) is a mildly entertaining collection of short horror stories ranging from basic to intriguing. The queer coding suggested by the narrator is less obvious than he points out, so this anthology allows readers to take away only what they’re looking for. The art quality is inconsistent, as with most anthologies, but each story has an unexpected twist to keep readers on their toes.
Related Information
What does the phrase Penny Dreadful mean?
A Penny Dreadful is a short story involving crime, dark adventure, or horror. The name comes from the printed stories sold on the streets of England for a penny in the 19th Century, stories that some considered “dreadful” in tone and content.
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