Only the End of the World Again

Written by Neil Gaiman
Adapted by P. Craig Russell
Art by Troy Nixey

This is a strange one. This short graphic novel is about a werewolf who has moved to a small, coastal New England town where it seems everyone worships some form of Lovecraftian elder god, and are looking to manipulate him into becoming a sacrifice for it, so it can rise from the ocean and end the world. At least, I'm pretty sure that's what's going on. I don't know why everyone who speaks to him tells him how to cure lycanthropy, or why people hide in his office waiting to ambush him.

The other thing I don't know is why, if you have P. Craig Russell attached to a project, you don't have him do the art. He's not someone you think of immediately as a writer (although he did a fantastic job of adapting Gaiman's Sandman prose story), and it doesn't look like he provided Nixey with layouts. I'm not complaining about Nixey's work - I think it looks very nice here and fits the ambiguity of the plotting - it just seems to me that any opportunity to get Russell to draw is a good one.

In all, this is an enjoyable and quick read. It's by no means the best thing Gaiman nor Russell have put their names to (and I think I liked Nixey's pinch hitting on Killing Girl better), but as a holiday Monday read, it's decent.