In Vengeance at Cackling Mountain, an odd rodent-like/owl-like cave-dwelling creature goes on a hissy-fit and dismembers a human-like/bunny-like biped bearing a paper Chinese lantern. The bunny-like biped ends up with an arm rearranged on its face; the rodent-owl ends up really angry and has a fit … Or something like that.
There is a story in there somewhere-clearly one of revenge-but it was lost, as I became lost in Shawn Cheng’s gorgeously rich drawings. Vivid colours, lush black ink on black-as-night paper, fiery reds, bright eyes staring at me, coming at me through a paper cave, eerily lit by yellow ochre ink. I disappeared in the dark forest, drowned in the blue waters, and felt beads of sweat at my brow, as I prayed to the gods that be. Please, never, ever, let me stray from the path on my way to Cackling Mountain.
Shawn Cheng, with a few well-chosen strokes of an evil pen, has created a magnificent, hauntingly beautiful universe. (Andrée Lachapelle)
Comic, Shawn Cheng, [email protected], www.partykausa.com