Ever since first seeing Campbell's work in the pages of Too Much Hopeless Savages, I've been enamored of his art style. So I was looking forward to this, the first project that he both writes and draws, to see how his writing talents stack up to his impressive art talents. As it turns out... pretty darn well. Wet Moon is a strange book, a sort of wandering story that is as much about mood and small moments as about a larger plot, but Campbell's storytelling keeps me wrapped up throughout, trying to sort out not only the characters and relationships but where the story is going and trying to figure out if there are supernatural elements or just more than the usual bits of strangeness in this tale of early campus life. Campbell does a pretty good rendition of the minutiae of everyday college life, when you're just making the transition into pre-adulthood, and he mixes in a very atmospheric sense of place with Wet Moon (Alabama?) and gothic elements that make Wet Moon compelling for a wide range of readers.
I've made no secret of my trouble getting into stories that have a loose, meandering structure in general. In theory, this means that Wet Moon should put me off, because there's not really any story closure in any of the stories introduced in this first volume of Wet Moon, and there are a hell of a lot more questions than there are answers. However, as a volume one in a series, it does the main job, which is entertaining the reader consistently throughout as well as leaving us dying to find out what happens next, and so I can forgive what I see as the structural flaws of a very, very loose plot and a few ill-defined, mysterious characters.
It doesn't hurt that alongside these total mysteries, like Fern, the goth girl with a slightly inhuman appearance, or the creepy and sad homeless girl uttering empty threats, Campbell provides some very solid central characters. The main one, of course, is Cleo, an overweight, somewhat neurotic (and still damn sexy) girl who is the star in this big ensemble cast. Her anxieties about her roommates, strife with her half-sister, crush on the mysterious goth boy and friendly (sometimes not-so-friendly) bickering with her friends and acquaintances are full of real, human moments, and she is the heart of the reality of the book. Cleo is the kind of girl you can absolutely see meeting (especially if you work in a comics shop or move in goth circles), and her new-to-college anxieties and difficulty in dealing with her feelings make her infinitely relatable.
The same is true of the rest of Campbell's far-flung cast. I must admit that I occasionally got lost as to who was who, as Campbell has a pretty ambitious size cast here, but he does an excellent job of distinguishing them not just visually but in terms of personality. While Cleo is the star of the book, there are plenty of scenes that focus just as much on the other characters, including a hilarious bit of passive-aggressive behavior by Audrey when her roommate is eating her soups or the deliciously brash and yet not entirely self-confident Trilby, who is just fun to read throughout. Campbell brings these characters to life with strong, distinctive visuals, but it's even more impressive just how much personality and life he gives them in his writing. I did on occasion have to flip back through a few pages to remember who was who, but that's mostly because the cast is so big, and not because of any failure on Campbell's part to clarify their personalities and roles in the story.
Of course, while the character stuff is terrific, true to life but with just enough of a sarcastic, cynical edge to be funny as hell or, on other occasions, touching or painfully reminiscent of one's own experiences, the plot is something else. Something else I'm not entirely sure of yet, to be honest. The story in this first volume mostly revolves around romantic relationships in the early stages for most of the characters, and the settling into a new college life for the majority of them as well. However, there are some strange elements that would indicate some kind of supernatural weirdness, and these elements are very periphery, used only for a not-entirely-clear (but still intriguing) flashback ending.
While Campbell's writing is strong, especially for a relatively new writer, his artwork is phenomenal. His style is perfect for capturing different body types, different appearances, people who look like real people even when their choices of fashion and hair are a little bit more surreal, and he's capable of amazing subtlety. Cleo is overweight, but she's still damned cute, thanks to the way she dresses, the way she acts and (this is strange to say in a static medium) the way she carries herself. Similar visual quirks define each of the characters. Perhaps more notable, though, is that Campbell blends this gorgeous, inky, detailed style with dead-perfect storytelling. There's a six-page sequence here where Cleo does nothing more than check herself out in the mirror, playing with her expressions, teasing her hair, the kind of thing we've all done at one time or another when we're in a silly or self-conscious mood, and it's absolutely riveting. Funny, too. Similar slow-paced moments happen throughout the issue, like the first appearance of Fern in the crowded goth club House of Usher or the surreality that overcomes the book as chapter five goes on and moves to a surprising close.
This is his third art outing at Oni Press, so it's really not technically correct to call Wet Moon Campbell's debut, but it is his debut as a writer/artist, so I'm going to classify it as that to some extent. Wet Moon is an amazing debut for a stellar new talent, one whose art style will turn heads immediately but whose unusual and engaging writing style will keep those eyes on the page. I also have to give a mention to the design for the book, by Oni Press's unsung hero Keith Wood, as this is just a package of dark, inviting perfection, and I love the new halfway between digest and regular trade size and hope we'll be seeing more books of this size. 10/10
