Mr. Vertigo

The Devil’s Cut
Various Creators
DSTLRY, 2023

This compilation was the introduction to the creator-owned DSTLRY imprint. The title originated from the aging process of whisky: during the aging process, the whiskey that evaporates is called the Angel’s Share. But the most potent spirits are captured in the wood: the Devil’s Cut. The eleven stories included represent all of the founding creators. Some were teasers for upcoming comics, while others were short tales created explicitly for the volume, making the collection both a sampler and an anthology. The teasers include Jock’s Gone, James Tynion IV and Christian Ward’s Spectagraph, Scott Snyder and Francesco Francavilla’s White Boat, and Becky Cloonan and Tula Lotay’s Somna (with a short story of a similar tone). The five-page format is perfect for the classic EC Comics twist ending. Elsa Charretier & PK Colinet deliver that with “Your Small Guide For Handling Big Trouble,” reminiscent of Matt Kindt’s MIND MGMT.  Ram V and Lee Garbett’s “Waiting To Die” tells a short apocalyptic tale. Even the teasers work within the format, which makes me think that the creators may have all been prepared for this introductory collection when plotting their new series.

Somna
Becky Cloonan & Tula Lotay, story & art; Lee Loughridge, Dee Cunniffe & Tula Lotay, colorists; Lucas Gattoni, letterer
DSTLRY, 2024

Somna is the first time that Becky Cloonan and Tula Lotay both wrote and drew together to create a graphic novel. The setting is an English village in the 1600s during a witch hunt. Ingrid is unhappily married to Roland, the town’s bailiff and chief witch hunter, who is on a single-minded quest to purge the ‘heretics’ in their midst. After a prominent town leader is found murdered, accusations fly and no one is above reproach–it is a classic case of paranoia and intrigue. Ingrid has her suspicions about the murderer, but finds herself pursued by a shadowy figure. She is irresistably drawn to this phantom, who offers an erotic escape from her puritanical world. In the end she yields to temptation, and is rewarded with a possible escape from being burned at the stake (it’s ambiguous). It’s a slow and sometimes meandering tale, but the visuals are uniformly gorgeous. The artists alternate scenes, with Cloonan taking the everyday life ones and Lotay the mystical visions. But the two artists sometimes combine during transitions, making the flow surprisingly natural. The Deluxe collection includes a collection of alternate covers, sketches and page layouts, and the short story “What Blighted Flame Burns In Thee?” that originally appeared in The Devil’s Cut. It features a terrific twist ending which packs a punch that the graphic novel cannot match.