By Chris Schweizer
Publisher: Oni Press
ISBN: 978-1-934964-06-4
Often when I order books it's on the basis of a brief synopsis and a thumbnail picture, which means there's an element of gambling involved. Occasionally they turn out to be turkeys, or have promising artwork but a dire story or gags, or ropey artwork barely held together by the concept. Crogan's Vengeance was one such gamble, bought on the strength that the cartoon buccaneer on the cover was packing a lot of character into a few simple brushstrokes. I was surprised at the thickness of the book when it arrived, at just under 200 pages, and beautifully presented in hardback. It starts with a young lad being told by his dad about the family ancestors and, in particular, one Catfoot Crogan and how he became a pirate. What follows is not some silly Pirates of the Caribbean tale but a decent, and in some places dark, story of life on board a pirate vessel in the eighteenth century. It is beautifully illustrated throughout with a skilful use of black ink and a brush, with no other colours or tones, in a very loose, fluid style that's more frequently seen in a three panel strip than a comic or graphic novel. But that doesn't mean it's out of place here at all, and Schweizer understands how to use black and white to create impact, animated emotions and some wonderful action. The writing is very good too, and there's no escaping his love of history, nor his ability to play upon it to weave a story. The aim is to do 16 books in all covering different branches of the family tree in different time periods, and if this is anything to go by then I'll be following the Crogan family to their conclusion.
And if you liked that: The next book, Crogan's March, is out now!
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