Salem Brownstone: All Along the Watchtowers

"Wonderfully imaginative and stylish. . . . A perfect example of the adventurous new directions that comic books should be taking in the future." — Alan Moore, author of WATCHMEN and V FOR VENDETTA A mundane life takes a strange and magical turn in this rich gothic fantasy told with vivid black-and-white art — a graphic novel perfect for a Halloween night. As he twists the key and slowly creeps into the grand mansion left to him in his father's will, Salem Brownstone has an eerie feeling that his world is about to change. First there's the appearance of a beguiling contortionist from Dr. Kinoshita's Circus of Unearthly Delights . . . then a crystal ball . . . then an attack by the sinister Shadow Boys. It seems the father that Salem never knew was actually a powerful magician, and the son has inherited his dark legacy — and an unfinished battle for life or death. With intriguing echoes of Tim Burton, Edward Gorey, H. P. Lovecraft, and Aubrey Beardsley, this album-format, beautifully cloth-bound graphic novel forges a mesmerizing style all its own.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up A telegram arrives, informing Salem Brownstone of the death of the father he never knew. The loss leaves him holding the key to his father's mansion and its strange contents. There he meets a mysterious contortionist in possession of a scrying ball and, as Jedediah Brownstone forewarned his friends, the deathly Shadow Boys have come for it. Like Alice going down the rabbit hole, Salem descends into Dr. Kinoshita's Circus of Unearthly Delights, and the eerie adventures take off from there. Singh's artwork in this oversize book is similar to Edward Gorey's surrealistic pen-and-ink illustrations. It lends itself perfectly to Dunning's dark tale. Fans of H. P. Lovecraft, Lewis Carroll, and Edgar Allan Poe will enjoy this eerie graphic novel. Lisa Gieskes, CA Johnson Preparatory Academy, Columbia, SC Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Bound in purple cloth, with oversize pages filled with hallucinatory black-and-white visuals, this graphic novel immediately looks and feels unlike anything else out there. Astonishingly the work of two first-time creators, this is a book that both takes full advantage of its form and offers something unique in the current graphic-novel market: a deep strangeness that pervades every panel, every figure, and even every object within. Although Dunning’s humorously dry writing and the bizarrely calm affect of an array of enjoyable characters help create the creepy tone, Singh’s flowing, surreal perspectives and vaguely Ditko-esque landscapes of alternate planes are what will cast readers into an unfamiliar and occasionally uncomfortable world. Even amid the constant barrage of obtuse and off-kilter imaginings, there are indelible images that stand out: tortured smoke haunting the air over a mansion; intertwined souls trapped within the insectoid eye of a fly. What’s it about? Well, the plot concerns Salem’s inheritance of a magic orb from his deceased father, after which he is abetted by the freakish denizens of Dr. Kinoshita’s Circus and opposed by the Seven Dark Elders of Midnight City. But what it’s really about is the thrill of the genuinely weird. Grades 9-12. --Jesse Karp

Alan Moore, author of WATCHMEN and V FOR VENDETTA

"Wonderfully imaginative and stylish. . . . A perfect example of the adventurous new directions that comic books should be taking in the future."

About the Author

John Harris Dunning has written for many leading newspapers and magazines. SALEM BROWNSTONE, his first graphic novel, was first serialized in the U.K. anthology STURGEON WHITE MOSS. Born in South Africa, he now lives in London.Nikhil Singh’s artwork has appeared in numerous major magazines. Besides working as an illustrator, he performs in the post-punk band The Wild Eyes. He lives in London.

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