Boneyard (comic book)
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Boneyard is a print graphic novel and a quarterly comic book created by Richard Moore, published by NBM Publishing. The title has been in print for over five years which is substantially longer than the average life-span of a creator-owned title in the current market-place. What is somewhat more noteworthy is that the title is only published quarterly rather than monthly and it is not published by one of the three largest comic companies.
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[edit] Plot
A horror/comedy comic, the series begins with Michael Paris, an ordinary young man who has inherited a large plot of land upon his grandfather's death. The land is located in a town called "Raven's Hollow", and while Michael, or Paris, as he prefers to be called thinks he's just going to pick up the check for the land, he finds that the land is actually the town graveyard, called "The Boneyard". It's also not empty of occupants, as a number of creatures inhabit it.
[edit] Cast
[edit] Boneyard Residents
Michael Paris An ordinary young man, who has just been on the bad end of a break up, he didn't know what he was getting into when he received the boneyard. He has seemed to take it more or less in stride, and as a result has been accepted by the other things living there. He has a tendency to try to save the day, which often fails miserably, and he needs to be pulled out of the fire by more capable people, typically Abby. This turns around on Paris and the Boneyard crew recently when the mystical graveyard denizens were under siege by a powerful nightmare spirit and only Paris' "normalness" was able to evade the nightmare's clutches. Paris rose to the challenge and fought a pitched battle that required all his wits and ferocity to survive and save his friends.
Abby Abby is a vampire, and the oldest, and likely most powerful resident of the Boneyard. She almost never shows this side of herself, and mostly comes off as a witty, normal girl. She is interested in Paris, as judged from her reactions to Nessie trying to flirt with him. She cares about everyone at the Boneyard a great deal. Abby is embarrassed by her vampiric side as she considers it animalistic and barbarous and she hides her true strength from Paris even at the cost of putting herself in greater danger.
Nessie An Amphibious oversexed being, similar in shape to the Creature from the Black Lagoon she is very flirtatious, and has no problem using her body to get what she wants. She is much more wild than Abby, which causes a great deal of strife. While she is married to Brutus, it is implied that while she may cheat on him, she does love him in some strange way. It has been revealed that Nessie's flirtatious ways have their roots in a traumatic and sexually abusive relationship she had when she was younger. She now feels her only worth is as a toy for men and she uses her considerable charms with reckless frequency.
Brutus Brutus is the silent member of the Boneyard, never saying anything more than grunts and growls. He is similar in build to Frankenstein's monster Brutus is largely an unknown quantity for now except to say that he is not terribly bright and not terribly weak.
Glumph Glumph is a minor demon serving out a period of exile on the mortal plane for wrong doing in the pits of Hell. Apparently he did something nice. Now, he seeks to enslave humanity and take over the world to prove to the infernal pit that he is up to the task of being a demon. Tragically for Glumph, he's not very good with long term planning and usually succeeds only in making a mess or an inconvenience for the others in the graveyard. For reasons unknown, Glumph is mortally afraid of socks.
Sid Sid is an animated skeleton who is perpetualy smoking a cigar, and is also very grumpy. He may be more of a sex fiend than Nessie is, but he mainly deals with magazines and other such things.
Ralph A werewolf archetype though he never transmutes back into human form. Ralph rarely removes his sunglasses though he has done so to help a lady in need as he did when Abby was caught out on a sunny day at the beach, or to look eye to eye with a comely book store clerk. Ralph apparently has a violent past or has been accused of a murder though whether he actually committed it has not been revealed. Ralph is an excellent mechanic and has repaired Paris' completely wrecked car a number of times though invariably the car is quickly totalled again.
Hildy A kind-hearted and tough-skinned old Scottish witch. Her silly appearance (her eyes are never visible under an amazing mop of straw-like hair) belies her inner strength and wisdom as well as her own emotional vulnerability.
[edit] Villains
Mayor Wormwood The Mayor attempts to woo Paris into signing away his ownership of The Boneyard upon his arrival in Raven's Hollow, but Paris feels pangs of regret seeing that those living (and not living) on the property would be displaced and have no where else to go in a world that fears them. When Paris refuses to sell the place, Wormwood reveals his true aspect as Beelzebub, the Lord of Lies and attempts to terrify Paris into relinquishing the deed to the land. Ultimately this fails and Beelzebub retires to Hell to plot his next moves. It remains unrevealed as to why Beelzebub so desires the ownership of the Boneyard.
Roxanne A wealthy investor who arrives in town and becomes friendly with Paris despite Abby's misgivings. She also fails to woo the deed away and reveals herself not only as the Arch-fiend Lillith, but as the centuries old vampire that gave Abby her vampiric life. Abby is nearly killed in the confrontation and it is only Paris' intervention that keeps Abby from being destroyed.
The Doomsday frog One of Glumph's mad attempts at world domination. It remains unclear what the Doomsday frog was capable of, but Glump created a "Doomsday Fly" to defeat the frog.
Jack The Jack O' Lantern headed nightmare sent by Lillith to destroy the Boneyard residents. Jack has the ability to force his victim's worst fears out and trap them within their own nightmares. Only Paris with many strong cups of coffee inside him is able to withstand the assault and prove how vicious he can be.
The I.R.S. After Beelzebub leaves Raven's Hollow to plot his next attack, The Internal Revenue Service levies Paris with property taxes of $600,000 on the Boneyard which is far more money than he can anticipate ever having. Several ill-fated schemes are hatched to raise the money for Paris in an attempt to keep the Boneyard's residents from losing their home.
The Slasher A broad spoof of monster movie icon Jason Voorhees. Though he also used a chainsaw ala Leatherface.This nameless killer haunted Camp Waterlake till Abby destroyed him. It was revealed that he was a supernatural puppet created by Lillith.
[edit] Editions in print
There are currently 22 issues of Boneyard which have been published as a quarterly comic book title. In addition an un-numbered Swimsuit Special was released between issues 9 and 10. Once the original print run of the comics is sold, it is removed from print. Every four issues are then collected into a Trade paperback which will remain in print ongoing. Currently there are five collections. Color reprints have been announced for the entire run of trade paperbacks and will replace the current black and white pressings when the print run is sold. Currently only Volume 1 has the color treatment, but the color reissue of Volume 2 has been announced.
[edit] Awards
Book of the Year 2005 Gold Medal in Graphic Novels from ForeWord magazine. -Boneyard Color Volume 1.
