Lenore, Where Have You Been My Whole Life?

I have recently been diving into a project about comics in my Information Design II class. Last semester I took a class called Illustrated Narrative and though I had a like for comics then, I have found myself falling more in love with them now. Along researching potential things to use on a website that my group is trying to urge our website traffic to take a gander at, I came across a comic titled Lenore. 

I like dark things. I like humor. I like simple little things that are twisted or presented in an interesting way that will make me outright just giggle, EWW, UGH, ICK, or [insert a sound effect here]. I might appear a little silly whenever this might happen, for example, I was in the middle of reading Vol. 1 of Lenore: Noogies on my way to Florida this last week and when I got to issue two, I had one of those smiling followed by a little giggle/snicker moments while sitting on a plane heading to Orlando. I wasn't worried what the person next to me was thinking because I was enjoying what I was reading. I also caught the guy himself trying to read over my shoulder. I guess pictures are just very enticing. 

Anyway, the comic Lenore is written by Roman Dirge. It is basically a bunch of dark humor and for the most part follows the main character Lenore. Lenore is an undead girl. Don't get her confused with a zombie---she doesn't eat brains. She is dead, but she acts as if she is still alive. Throughout what I have read so far (Volumes 1 & 2 of Vol. 1), Lenore is trying to do good for the most part, but the outcome is always a disaster. She really seems like she has good intentions. I guess that is why I keep finding her more and more likable of a character. Minus the dead part, I feel like I can relate to her.

Several fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and songs are also reinvented in an interesting manner throughout this comic as well.

From my understanding, Lenore is broken up. You have Lenore Volume 1 which consists of 12 issues of the original Lenore Series. Noogies (Issues 1-4), Wedgies (Issues 5-8) and Cooties (Issues 9-12). These volumes were published by Slave Labor Graphics and were all in black and white. Next you have Lenore Volume 2 which was released by Titan Magazines. This volume set came with a new volume 1, and included Swirlies (rare Vol.1 #13 from the original series and Vol.2 issues #1-3) and  Purple Nurples (Vol.2 issues #4-7). To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Lenore, the graphic novel Pink Bellies was released on March 3, 2015. 

I have some catching up to do, considering I am about to start Cooties.

I also found out that the comic series had some talk about going into a feature film, but the contract between Roman Dirge and Sony Family Entertainment had expired. I don't know if I could image this being a movie, but I was happy to find out that some of the comics have been turned into animated shorts. I was lucky to find a few that were up on YouTube. Here is a spin on the "Talking Muffin". Enjoy.

Another cool thing that I found out is that Roman was a staff writer, was sometimes featured as a background character, and worked on the pilot episode for the cartoon, INVADER ZIM. RIP you awesome cartoon.

I think it is safe to say that I have finally found something new to obsessively read. I cannot wait to see what new adventures occur for Lenore and her friends. I also cannot wait to read other creations by Dirge. I have already added, Something at the Window is Scratching and The Cat with a Really Big Head to my Amazon wishlist.