Moles #1 is a comic with story and art by Chris Askham. Lily heads to Fennwick to investigate the frequent appearance of sinkholes. This is a mystery comic that takes place in an eerie, small town and stars a determined woman. The leading lady here is Lily Woolgrave, she is an investigative journalist who hosts the podcast “Stranger than Fiction” and she uses clever questions and dirty hands to get the answers she’s looking for. This story begins with Lily getting dressed while talking to Giles about what her plans are for the day. She heads to the location of a crime scene where a car is partly in a sinkhole and she questions the officer on duty about the two missing people. This takes place in what appears to be the UK in a small town. Though there is some blood, gore, and gruesomeness, there isn’t actually any violence. This moves at a steady pace and has the tone of an episode of a British mystery TV show with a bit more eeriness. There is a noticeable mysterious tension in the air throughout this story. The dialogue is straightforward and completely conversational with some UK slang. There aren’t any word-heavy pages here. This is an intriguing and eerie debut issue with a tenacious lead who isn’t afraid to walk into dangerous, unsettling, and strange situations.
The art here is drawn in a detailed sketch-like pulpish style with strong lighting and shading. This is in black-and-white and features some hatching and splotches on the paper. For scenery we have woods, wide-open fields full of sinkholes, and distant mountains. Besides the fields and woods Lily will visit a tavern that looks like the average UK watering hole. Backgrounds do a solid job of showing what is actually there but sometimes it’ll just be a gradient color or white. The expression level here is below average as these characters tend to maintain a stony of unflinching look. Shock and fear are the most common emotions with some happiness and irritation. Faces have a decent amount of detail and most expressions should be clear. There is some heavy gore and gruesomeness with a good amount of blood. The action scenes are all quick and to the point with a low panel count.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes.
“Would I like this?”
If you like mystery stories that star an inquisitive woman journalist and takes place in the UK with strong eeriness and a lot of sinkholes then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Blood, gore, gruesomeness, sexual situation.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“I’m looking at a field that is literally full of holes.”
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/switchbladestories/moles-issue-1/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 24
Violent Pages: 3, for 13% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 1, for 4% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 2
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 5
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 3
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 4
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
