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Comic Book Review: Lenore
The Cute Little Dead Girl Vols 2, 3

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Zombos Says: Excellent

Little? Yes. Dead? Without a doubt. Cute? That’s stretching it, buddy.

In her latest escapade, Where Pooty At? Lenore goes off on a few tangents, remembers a forgotten thing or two, and plants her friends in the dirt because she’s bored and wants to sprout more friends.

Let me explain.

Before I explain, though, I should mention we find out where Pooty’s been at, well into the story. He’s a bit annnoyed by not being found until then, but you’ll see what I mean when you read this issue…Lenore can be a little scatter-brained at times, which is most of the time.

The dancing, prancing, and singing flower opening turns into a nightmare when an insistent, pollinating-minded bee wants to buzz around Ragamuffin’s petals–

–Shoot, I suppose I should tell you up front that the dancing flower is Ragamuffin, the 400 year old vampire who fed on living flesh until he became a wormy, polyester rag doll and Lenore’s fast friend, although she occasionally treats him pretty mean and insensitively, which is most of the time–

–Until Lenore insists on planting Ragamuffin up to his neck in dirt, producing some unexpected results, or really I should say unexpected for us because she’s giddy with the results, as they turn out exactly as she hoped for, which doesn’t happen most of the time–her expectations producing the desired results I mean.

Which leads to the Pooty part of the story when he’s eventually found, though he’s pissed it took so long to find him. Now Pooty’s not a vampire or rag doll, he’s just a minion of Hell who took a fancy to Lenore and decided to stick around after he was sent to bring her back after she got bored and left. He does have an odd head, or rather it’s a bucket for a head, or maybe his head is just bucket-shaped. Either way he’s not happy Lenore didn’t find him sooner, so he sticks his trident in Ragamuffin’s brains–though it wasn’t Ragamuffin’s fault at all–which look and taste a lot like cotton candy by the way, and so Lenore and Pooty can’t help but munch on them. Reluctantly realizing it’s not a very good thing to chew on Ragamuffin’s brains, they stuff what’s left back in.

They spend more time beating up on Ragamuffin by telling him all about the mean things they did to him while he slept–Lenore and Pooty kept scrapbooks–until Lenore buries Pooty bucket-neck deep in the dirt because she just can’t have enough friends. He, of course, is now not so sure being found was a good thing.

There’s more, but you should be able to get the gist of this issue by now. And it’s in full color!

Graphic Book Review: Lenore, Cooties

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Lenore_cooties_color. ZC Rating: 5 of 7  (Excellent)

Lenore, the cute little dead girl, springs to vivid life, in full color, in Cooties. This Titan Books hardcovered, colorized edition of Roman Dirge’s comic book series collects issues 9 through 12. Here’s how I can best describe Dirge’s misadventures for his adorable, rotten-stuffin’, googly-eyed waif.

What if Dennis the Menace were a girl living next door to the Addams Family? He’d be, she’d be Lenore.

What if Eddie Munster had an incredible two-headed transplant with Dennis the Menace and dressed like Wednesday from the Addams Family? He’d, they’d be Lenore.

What if the Brady Bunch and the Beeve–after spending summer vacation at 1313 Mockingbird Lane– went through an ion storm filled with screwed up cosmic rays, while locked in the trunk of the Jupiter 2, that was being towed at sub-warp speed by the U.S.S Enterprise NCC-1701, which was being trapped by a Tholian Web? They’d be Lenore’s friends.

What if you read this book and didn’t find it funny as hell in that morbid, cockamamie sick sense of humor way horror fans tend to exhibit? Impossible.

Lenore’s endearing charm, even if worms are boring through her cranium now and then, and she surrounds herself with festering friends, comes from her irresistible, child-like sense of what’s most important: like leaving the afterlife because it’s itchy and smells a lot like Fritos and making a death mask for fun.

In Cooties, her friends, who (gramma’ nazis, feel free to insert whom here) wear more than clothes, dig her up, which leads to Pooty the bounty hunter–aside from being little, I can’t make heads or tails what he is–being sent to bring her back to the afterlife. Much mayhem ensues as he fails in his mission, causing a slubby netherworld army to be sent instead. Of course, with Lenore, much mayhem ensues daily anyway.

In-between this continuing turmoil, Dirge tosses in a few heaping helpings of grue like Pop Goes the Weasel (the weasel does, really), and his own strange encounter with a talking urinal in Japan (believe me, I know, I’ve been there). Copious pin-ups, issue covers, and I-can’t-believe-he-actually-did-that moments stretch the boundaries of good taste and decorum. Dirge will spare no cliche, no oft-turned phrase, no sordid joke or crass visceral visual to make Lenore as banana ripe and cheeky as the day before she died.

Neil Gaiman supplies the foreword. He’s strange, too.

Titan Books supplied a courtesy copy for this review. I already have the black and white comic book issues, though, so this is icing on the cake, for sure.

Lenore_strip_002