From the creators of The October Faction, Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) & Damien Worm, comes a new horror tale, Brynmore! Recently divorced and sober, Mark Turner has returned to his hometown looking for a second chance. He’ll rebuild the old church into a new home…if the locals let him. But Turner Island has a secret, one tracing back to when it was named after Mark’s ancestors. Who, or what, is Brynmore?

Source, Buy (AD)

 

Brynmore

is a story about an old family curse affecting not only the last of the bloodline but a whole island. Mark tries to escape his messed up, ruined family life and distract himself by returning to his Turner island. The inhabitants though barely welcome him. Instead they want him to disappear and threaten him. Nonetheless, he takes on himself the task of renovating an old church, finding a secret passage and a tombstone with secretive signs…

 

Setting

The graphic novel carefully sets up the setting and its interesting backstory. It was easy for me to sympathize with Mark although we are highly distinct in our life situations. Damien Worm’s illustrations enable us to feel with him though and draw us into his new environment. Turner Island comes alive in beautiful images that stick in our head. The illustrators surely put effort into details, the atmosphere, and the characters‘ facial expressions.

 

Atmosphere

The story is dark and gory, abundant on death and destruction. I wished there would have been more time for a counter-feeling, especially with Sophie, Mark’s daughter joining later, and Becca, his new acquaintance. Unfortunately, the second part of the story is rather anti-climactic and ends too smoothly to be extended in another volume. I enjoyed the style and the atmosphere of the graphic novel but would have wished for a bit more depth besides the ancestral sins affecting later generations.