Halloween may be behind us, but Edgar Allan Poe is still around with his Snifter of Death. This month sees two comics, one from Dean Motter and one by Holly Interlandi and Greg Scott. On top of that, this month’s extras really highlight the variety in Poe’s Snifter. There’s a poem by Lisa R. Jonté, as well as short stories from Anna Ojinnaka and Chris Sumberg. Not bad for a single issue.
The Good
Every time an issue of Poe’s Snifter comes out, our reviews typically laud the variety of stories on offer. This review won’t be much different. Dean Motter’s “Chess Player” is a great short that plays towards the horror of Poe’s work rather than the humor of Ahoy’s Snifter. It’s not cower-in-fear horror, but it’s entertaining in its twistiness.
Holly Interlandi’s “Angle of the Odd”, however, features another tone entirely. Leaning into the humor Poe’s Snifter is known for, along with artist Greg Scott, the two poke fun at the writing process as well as Poe. You almost feel bad for the literary giant after reading this one. If the first story raised your eyebrow, then this one is guaranteed to make you smirk at least.
What’s great about Ahoy Comics and the Snifter series is the commitment to variety. Seeing a poem in rhyming verse within a comic book is still something that’s hard to believe, and Ahoy deserves credit for this. Jonté’s “Much Ado About Not So Much” is as humorous as it is well crafted.
The issue closes with two prose pieces that again are worthy of praise. It’s hard to really compare EAPSOD to any other contemporary comic because nothing offers this same level of value and variety. Just think about the first comics you read, the ones that got you into following a series or a character. Ask yourself how you would have judged everything you read thereafter if those first reads had featured two comics, two prose stories and a poem.
The ‘Bad’
Like with most reviews of Poe’s Snifters, the quality is unmatched but the demographic may be niche. This is maybe the perfect series for the coffee table comic — you could give it to just about anyone and they would find enjoyment in it. But that doesn’t change the fact that a humorous take on Edgar Allan Poe stories is still a hard sell to most.
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