1863: during the American Civil War, the inhabitants
of New Fraternity, Indiana, find themselves far from the front lines of the
conflict embroiling the United States but still constantly under threat from it;
food is scarce, deserters come to seek asylum, and a mysterious feral beast that
walks on two legs prowls the forest around the town. The beast seems to have
some connection to Emile, a feral child found a few years earlier who had been
taken in by the townsfolk during simpler times. As their fear and paranoia
grows, the townsfolk start to hunt the beast and turn on each other, with tragic
results that threaten to undo all that they have been working
toward.
This was a decent enough graphic novel that I borrowed from the library. Set in a failed utopian settlement during the American civil war, it tells the story of a number of different characters, but doesn’t really bring them together in the way I had hoped. It’s a dark tale, well-drawn, but I wanted more.
