In DAUGHTERS OF THE DARK ORACLE: THE CURSE OF RAGDOLL (VOL. 1), available now from Mike Wolfer Entertainment, a series of gruesome murders leads a London detective to discover Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Dismembered.
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The Details
- Written By: Mike Wolfer
- Art By: Mike Wolfer
- Gray Tone Washes By: Mike Wolfer, Dan Parsons
- Letters By: Natalie Jane
- Cover Art By: Mike Wolfer, Ceci De La Cruz
- Cover Price: $11.96
- Release Date: January 17, 2018
Was It Good?
It’s gory. It’s spicy. And I enjoyed every bit of it.
Be forewarned, the contents of this volume are definitely NSFW. It’s not XXX territory, but you’re definitely into the hard R or NC-17 rating arena.
Originally, this volume was published as a series of B&w comics going back several years, but putting them together in a collected volume makes perfect sense for how the stories are interwoven by two key figures in the story. The undertaker is a barely perceptible presence in the narrative of each comic, but it turns out the part he plays is crucial to everything that’s going on.
Then there’s Ragdoll.
In a way, Ragdoll is both the central figure that connects all the events (figuratively and literally), and she acts as an active narrator participating in the events. For context, this volume is a collection of supernatural revenge stories, and Ragdoll delivers the bad news to the bad men in every story.
The approach of having the narrator act as an active participant in other people’s stories is not something you see every day, and it adds a bit of fresh air to the simple anthology model. I’m skipping ahead into the “What’s It About?” section but with good reason. Even though this volume was created as four separate issues, the way the stories interweave together in a larger narrative is remarkable. Although each revenge story has enough meat to stand on its own, the larger narrative of Ragdoll’s journey is just as strong.
I mentioned before the volume is both sexy and spicy. The sex is erotic but not gratuitous or explicit. The sex talk is stronger than what you actually see in-panel, so if you’re okay with sexual situations but not a fan of outright porn, you have nothing to worry about with this volume.
Regarding the gore, it’s handled well and always with a purpose that fits within the comeuppance served to each unsavory character. Therefore, credit is due to Wolfer who also inked this series for doing a marvelous job of making gorehounds happy by not pulling any punches while integrating the gore in an organic way to the story.
In general, the art is some of the best you’ll find in this genre of comics. I’ve read a lot of creator-owned material from across the spectrum, and Wolfer turns out high-quality material in this volume. The character designs are refined and distinctive, and the panel composition is excellent.
If you’re a fan of Gothic, gory horror with some tasteful eroticism, this is a worthy volume to add to your collection.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
A geological explorer finds himself marooned in a snowy, mountain cave where he finds a journal recounting an unbelievable tale. A woman who calls herself Ragdoll details her undead journey to seek revenge against the wicked men who made her what she is.
Ragdoll is more than just a name. It describes her as the patchwork woman made up of dismembered parts from women who were killed and discarded like trash. The victims comprising her body each have a tale of woe, and Ragdoll is resurrected from Hell itself to exact revenge for every woman whose memory inhabits the pieces of her body.
On her journey, she exacts bloody revenge on murderous husbands (well, mostly murderous husbands), encounters vampires, werewolves, and twisted nuns, and occasionally crosses paths with the London detective striving to make sense of it all.
When the volume ends, Ragdoll proves to the explorer her tale is all too real.
Final Thoughts
DAUGHTERS OF THE DARK ORACLE: THE CURSE OF RAGDOLL (VOL. 1) presents a collection of erotic, supernatural horror stories in the best possible light (or darkness). The art is top quality. The gore and the sex are effective yet tasteful. And the narrator threading each tale together sets up a bigger and more epic story.
Score: 9/10
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