Herbert has his cousin and uncle stay at Ragemoor for the night, only his uncle wants to take over, not just stay the night.
The Good
This has a really cool House of Mystery feel to it. I really like the history we are told about Ragemoor in the opening of this issue, and I love the idea of a house, with super-natural elements, as a being that can not only hear everything that's going on, but it can also physically move around and take control of the world around it.
I like the fact this book is black and white, and yet it really keeps my attention with just a grey-scale. Few comics can do that now-a-days, since we're bombarded by so much color, so it was nice that Ragemoor's "color" was so appealing to the eyes.
At the same time, I thought the background art was astounding. There is lots of great detail into smaller background elements like floors, walls, and ceilings that really help paint a vivid picture of this world.
The Bad
I did not like the art when it came to the actual people though. At times, it looked a lot like Howard Chaykin's art, who is one of my least favorite artists, and other times, it's like someone else did it. The four characters don't seem to me in the same universe, stylistically. They were a bit over the place and it became distracting.
While I liked the idea of the house, I felt like this first issue was a bit down the middle. I didn't really care for it and found it a tad boring. Frankly, this just may not be a book I can get into regardless of how long I read it though.
The Verdict
Right down the middle on this one. While I enjoyed the idea of the house being it's own character that can hear and see and kill if need be, the overall story was a bit boring and a bust for me overall. It is something we've seen before, and this version is a tad boring compared to the others.
I really liked the background art in this issue and the amount of detail in the panels, but I thought the drawings of the characters reminded me too much of other artists and it looked bad. However, the coloring with blacks and whites was very good.
Overall, I'm right down the middle. Sure, it's a 3, but it's a very weak 3. I don't think I can recommend this issue, but I'm sure I'll be picking up the second to give it another chance.