Comic Review: House of Mystery

When I saw that Bill Willingham, the writer behind Fables, and Matthew Sturges, who collaborates with Willingham on Jack of Fables, were working together on a new series, I figured it was worth checking out. The first trade paperback in House of Mystery introduces what is essentially a spinoff of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series (also a Vertigo property), specifically a chapter in that series called "World's End" in its TPB form.

The House of Mystery, or the Inn at World's End, or whatever you want to call it, is a big ol' mansion that sits at a junction of world's and dimensions. Wanderer's from any and every plane of existence can and do end up there, some just for a visit, and some for longer stays. No money is exchanged in this establishment, only stories. The customers pay their tabs with tales.

It's a convenient framing device for telling a variety of stories. Sturges takes the reigns on the frame, introducing us to Fig, a young architect who can "talk" to buildings and who has been dreaming about the House much of her life. Eventually, she ends up at the House and meets the staff. And since she apparently can't leave the grounds, she's doomed to become one of the staff. Meanwhile, a motley crew of patrons, from a transdimensional process server to a renegade witch, tell their horrific stories, which for the most part are written by Willingham.

That's probably what surprised me most about this book. It's pretty much an old school horror comic, with plenty of guts and gross-outs. There's some dry humor here and there, and it's not a splatterfest by any means, but at its heart it's essentially Tales From the Crypt with an actual story tying together the vignettes, as opposed to a cackling zombie-puppet.

Luca Rossi draws Fig's story, and I can't say I'm in love with the art here. Some of it's just fine, but the only reason I can tell most of the women apart is because their hair color is different. This lackluster illustration is more than compensated for by the various artists who draw the internal stories. Ranging from the cartoony (Steve Rolston) to the photorealistic (Zachary Baldus), nearly all the guest artists outshine Rossi, in my opinion.

Overall, I don't see this becoming one of my favorite series, but it was definitely good enough that I'll keep my eye out for the next TPB. It's success will depend largely on how Fig's story evolves. I think it holds promise, but right now there's a danger that it will grow too convoluted too early. Perhaps things will pick up as we learn the backstories of the rest of the House's occupants.