The Wolf is a painted novel by Tom Neely. The book tells a simple love story, but one woven with surrealist horror, werewolf lore and its own brand of nightmare logic. With The Wolf, Neely progresses from the traditional cartooning style he showed off in his previous books, The Blot and Brilliantly Ham-Fisted, to a form that blends comics-style storytelling with a fine arts approach to imagery. The ultimate effect is equal parts touching and chilling.
228 Pages, Black & White and Full Color,
Paperback, $25.00 (US)
Available now from I Will Destroy You
P.O. Box 39963, Los Angeles, CA 90039
Advance Praise for The Wolf:
“An assaultive, erotic riot of sex and combat and horror and sheer image-making power. There’s great beauty in The Wolf’s blackness.”
– Sean T. Collins, critic (Robot 6, The Comics Journal)
"The book talks about a progression, and an inner struggle, but I was most impressed with how Tom masterfully articulates the sentiment of love."
--Trenton Doyle Hancock, artist.
“The Wolf is drawn with skill and heart … It is thrilling to see Neely work this way, and to know that this dedicated artist is in it for the long haul.”
--Austin English, comics author/publisher (The Disgusting Room, Domino Books)
"The Wolf veers from frightening and expressionistic to cartoony at the drop of a hat, sometimes in the same drawing. But Tom pulls it all together beautifully.
--Zak Sally, cartoonist (Sammy the Mouse, Recidivist)
"Tom's work has the unusual ability to provoke anxiety, uncertainty, horror and uncomfortable laughter in equal measure … Mr. Neely has done so here with grace and a crafty precision.
-- Aaron Turner, musician-artist (Isis, Mammifer)
Watch a preview of Part 1 of The Wolf on Youtube.
Painter and cartoonist Tom Neely's first graphic novel, "The Blot," is like a sad song that breaks your heart while reminding you of life's beauty.
“The Blot" follows a nameless everyman who, while dealing with the fallout from a doomed relationship, is stalked by a mysterious black splotch. As the story unfolds, this shape-shifting blot appears as a harmless cloud of ink, a faceless demon, a source of strength and an inescapable darkness, testing our character in a new way with each metamorphosis.
192 Pages, Black & White and Color,
Paperback, $14.95 (US)
ISBN: 978-0-9742715-8-3
Available now from I Will Destroy You
P.O. Box 39963, Los Angeles, CA 90039
“A very rich book, this. I strongly recommend it.”
- Joe McCulloch
Tom Neely has also been published in Graphic Classics: O' Henry, Graphic Classics: Robert Louis Stevenson, SPX EXPO 2003, Only The Lonely, Krayon's Ego and with his artist fraternity Igloo Tornado in Henry and Glenn #1 & #2