Up on the hill there is a castle that is alive. It is made by the dead bodies of men. That castle is called Ragemoor and it’s the setting for a new four-part comic series by Jan Strnad and Richard Corben.
“Ragemoor†#1 introduces us to Herbert, the owner of Castle Ragemoor as he is visited by his family. He tells them that Ragemoor is evil because there were tons of sacrifices made on the stones of the castle as it was built. The castle is also alive. Ragemoor does sound like your typical evil/haunted building  built using some kind of evil or human sacrifice. Though that does not mean there’s no room to flesh out the castle as a character. Writer Jan Strnad could have a little fun with the castle and make it the scariest place on earth. The characters so far aren’t as interesting as the castle, but in stories like this they’re just toys for the site to play with.
The artwork by Richard Corben is a mixed bag. In some scenes the heads on the characters look like human muppet heads while in others they look well polished. Herbert himself looks like Guy Smiley from “Sesame Street.” The backgrounds, however, are well done and give off that scary, gothic feel that fit the tome of the comic nicely. Making the comic black and white instead of in color was also a good stylistic idea in that it makes the comic look and feel like you’re in a 1930s horror film. It gives the comic more character that way.
“Ragemoor†#1 does have an interesting premise to it and it does have some promise. The black and white 1930s horror movie style artwork works even if the character’s heads do look like Sesame Street characters. Not to mention the idea of an entire living castle reeking havoc on some unsuspecting souls could prove  loads of fun if the cards fall into the right place. Let’s root for the castle.
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