I always enjoy your thoughtful reviews.

I picked up issue #1 of this about a year ago in a hole-in-the-wall comic shop whose cynical owner has surprisingly good taste. Frankly everything current on display looked pedestrian next to this gem.

I’m currently putting together an anthology of my favorite monster comics which I’m going to get hardbound. Your review reminded me of this one, so I pulled it out and re-read it, then ordered the remaining two issues. Oh yes, they’re going in the hardcover. The back-up stories too, which are every bit as solid as you noted.

“Dead Love” does have that old-movie feel (here the black and white is an asset), and a relaxed pace with understated humor. It also has a certain rough-around-the-edges charm in a way that makes it feel genuine rather than amateurish. This is a labor of love by two creators, one at the writing desk, the other the drawing board, with no committee standing between them and their audience.

I don’t know if they’ll be able to pursue further adventures, but I hope so. Bausch claims at the end of the first issue that he has plans to take the characters to Hammer horror era england and Tokyo among other locales. He and Callahan certainly have what it takes to pull it off.