Phil Graves is an alchemical engineer who has recently turned into an unpredictably shifting werewolf. Together with his dysfunctional, mismatched family of monsters, he must race across dimensions collecting a set of magical mirrors in order to stop a chronal vampire from devouring the space-time continuum and destroying reality. But can the family hold together even as reality falls apart?
The Family Graves is such a fun and interesting concept! The descriptions provided by the publisher frame the idea perfectly– this is The Incredibles meets Universal Monsters, with a dash of sci-fi futurism thrown in for good measure. The story delights in Munsters-esque moments of monster family dynamics that would feel right at home in an animated movie or a Saturday morning cartoon. That said, because the series is aimed primarily at children you can expect to encounter some weird storytelling foibles and occasionally uneven pacing. Often both can be attributed to the age group for which the story is intended, but these can be distracting to an adult reader.
My favorite part of The Family Graves has to be the gorgeous art. The style is bold and modern, the colors are vibrant, and the “mad science meets classic monsters” aesthetic is realized perfectly. From Gordo the zombie baby’s facial expressions to dynamic action sequences this is a series which is just fun to look at. I also appreciate that despite horror-themed characters and subject matter, there isn’t anything especially frightening here. Even when something is meant to be scary I felt that the art marked it as more cool and engaging than terrifying, which makes this series much more accessible for kids. I’m not a parent, but I’d wager that even the scarediest of little ones can handle the vast majority of The Family Graves.
My sole criticism (and based on context, it may be an unfounded one) is that the dialogue and narration feel too silly at times and don’t always serve the story and the art well. Don’t expect truly stimulating dialogue or startling thematic depth, this is a “turn off your brain and have fun” kind of a popcorn series. There’s silly alchemical technobabble all over the place and the average adult will find some of the humor groanworthy (hashtag science). There’s a bit too much that isn’t well explained in the plot too– a lot of things are being mystically handwaved or introduced with no prior setup. I imagine kids will accept this easily enough, but it definitely stuck out in that sometimes we’re being told rather than shown. It’s minor, but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re reading the series as an adult.
At the end of the day, this is a fun adventure romp through time and space that I hope will go a long way to introducing young audiences to the genre in a way that definitely isn’t going to scar them for life. There are tons of fun nods to other genre staples (my favorite being Lum, a pint-sized Abe Sapien) and it’s clear that the creators love horror and the bizarre. I’m excited to see where the series goes next.
The Family Graves is available digitally and will be released in a collected volume in October
