Writer: Danny Lore
Artist: Gio Sposito
Publisher: Vault Comics
WHAT IS IT?
An action-packed supernatural horror story steeped in thick, noir tones.
Think Teen Wolf featuring Die Hard’s John McClain.
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
(Minor spoilers)
After successfully defeating a summoner of spirits, Cynthia “Sin” Breaker heads out to spend her bounty but notices her former comrades, a tag team who fight under the moniker Tech and Blood, and her ex-girlfriend are also in attendance this Fight Night.
Having her lack of werewolf abilities pointed out, Sin storms away in anger, but little does she know that she’s been entered into against the duo. A mage named Zac Zero volunteers to help her win, but she sneers at his request.
Before she can jump into the fray, Zac touches her with a crystal and seemingly activates her wolf powers. Could he be the key to returning to her former self?
WHAT WORKS
The story crafted by Danny is fast-paced and immediately grabs the reader’s attention. This issue is exciting and action-packed from start to finish.
Gio’s pencil work displays the intensity and emotion of each scene excellently. In particular, the characters' facial expressions perfectly match the mood of each panel.
Contrasting colors and gradients are used to an exemplary degree by DJ Chavis, every choice making the action scenes punchier and directing the reader’s eyes to the important panels.
Having inner monologues and dialogue to fit into panels is always a tall order for a letterer, but Andworld Design crushed it. The story wouldn’t have felt nearly as fast-paced if it weren’t for their skillfully placed balloons.
Lunar Room is an excellent example of “show, don’t tell” in its writing. Lots of information is conveyed through the scenes and dialogue between characters without blatantly stating everyone’s relationship.
Gio masterfully uses paneling to pace the story. Most pages use more panels than the average comic, but no page feels crowded or overwhelming largely due to the creative shapes, overlapping, and designs of the layouts.
The fight scenes were minimalist in their backgrounds, which greatly emphasizes the drama of these scenes and allows the reader’s imagination to carry the scenes away.
Every contribution by this team is extremely cohesive. Everything comes together well and the story feels like an easy read even with the amount of art and words per page.
WHAT DOESN’T WORK
Content Warning: This book features some profanity if you're sensitive about that.
The beginning of the book feels unrelated to the rest of the story and the reader isn’t yet given a lot of information to show why this might be important later.
In our early review copy, the caption boxes for Zac could have been a more contrasting color to make it more obvious when the inner monologue switched from Sin. Her light grey boxes and his light blue boxes were very similar and the change could be easy to miss. This is something production will likely fix before it goes to print.
The chapter markers didn’t add much to the story and stopped the flow at inopportune times.
WHY SHOULD I READ IT?
Lunar Room shows the stunning results of a great comics team working together seamlessly. The story, art, colors, and lettering are all simpatico and make this an enjoyable reading experience. Few, if any, dull moments occur within these pages and a reader may find themselves completing this book faster than anticipated. Beyond the great, fast-paced action, the story hints at some quality emotional arcs. Sin is someone who clings to the past and would do anything to return to her glory days, so her relationship with Zac is bound to be interesting. Since both characters have internal monologues present within the story, the reader is sure to get an in-depth look at Sin and Zac throughout.
This story truly wouldn’t be as effective without the art. Creative panel shapes, contrasting colors, and expert letter placement greatly emphasize where the reader’s eyes are meant to go and make the reading feel near seamless. The facial expressions alone convey more information than any text ever could and instantly show Sin’s inner demons and emotional strife.
For anyone who needs a werewolf story that focuses more on the person than the monster, or who just wants a fun and exciting ride, this book will certainly scratch that itch.
WHAT DO I READ NEXT?
If you like the writing:
James Bond by Vita Ayala, Danny Lore & Eric Gapstur
Queen of Bad Dreams by Danny Lore & Jordi Perez
Ghost Rider by Ed Brisson, Juan Frigeri, & Aaron Kuder
If you like the art:
Dr. Who: The Thirteenth Doctor by Jody Houser, Giorgia Sposito, & Rachel Slott
Bettie Page and Apocatequil’s Ring by Stephen Mooney & Giorgia Sposito
Vampirella Vs. Purgatori by Ray Fawkes & Alvaro Sarraseca
ABOUT THE CREATORS
Danny Lore (@weredawgz) – Writer
Danny has written in both the mainstream and independent comics sphere, having written Ironheart and Champions for Marvel, James Bond for Dynamite, and Queen of Bad Dreams for Vault.
They also write short fiction and have been published in multiple publications.
Danny also served as editor of Starless Daydream from the new publisher Dauntless Stories.
Gio Sposito (@giorgiasposito) - Artist
Mainly working for independent publishers, Gio has done work for Vault, Dynamite, IDW, Titan, and Zenescope.
She is also a cover artist and recently designed the cover for Ice Nine Kills by Z2 comics.
Gio hails from Milan, Italy.
DJ Chavis (@djcolorscomics) - Colorist
A rising talent, DJ has done colors for comics published by Dark Horse, Aftershock, Oni Press, and Mad Cave Studios.
He has also done colors for multiple webcomics including But What If Though, and Certifiable Investigations.
DJ claims to have an insane number of hobbies which he will happily talk to anyone about at length.
AndWorld Design (@andworlddesign) - Letterer
A lettering design studio founded by Eisner, Harvey, and Ringo nominated letterer, Deron Bennet.
Have previously worked with DC Comics, Marvel, BOOM Studios, and many more.
HOW DO I BUY IT?
The image(s) used in this article are from a comic strip, webcomic or the cover or interior of a comic book. The copyright for this image(s) is likely owned by either the publisher of the comic, the writer(s) and/or artist(s) who produced the comic. It is believed that the use of this image(s) qualifies as fair use under the United States copyright law. The image is used in a limited fashion in an educational manner in order to illustrate the points of the author and not for the purpose of entertainment or substituting the original work. It is believed the use of this image has had no impact on the market value of the original work.
All Lunar Room characters and the distinctive likeness(es) thereof are trademarks of and copyright of Vault Comics or their respective owners. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.