Some Ghouls Wander By Mistake

“Some Ghouls Wander by Mistake” is a comic book written by Myke Amend, in a seemingly random and often nonsensical fashion. It is a dark art-noir horror and strange fiction series, heavily influenced by various subculture including the gothic and steampunk genres.

Though there is an underlying storyline, actually stories within stories, the series is predominantly chaotic humor of the darker sort, and not for the young, faint of heart, or easily offended.

The first issue of the series revolves mostly around the character Isaac Dellamorte, a dark and brooding, ill-willed, self-centered, and work-obsessed hermit. It is a comedic, pain and death-filled, oversized issue, in which a lot of information is presented in order to get the reader up to speed for the coming issues.

Isaac Dellamorte is a work-at-home hermit, who fancies himself an artist, a musician, a writer, and a designer, though he spends too much of his time on programming, troubleshooting, and other things he hates being good at; The rest of his time is spent agonizing over not having time, time being his greatest obsession. He has been shut away for years now, obsessed with his work, or rather trying to find time to complete it amidst a myriad of insane and unlikely interruptions. His only lifelines to the world he left behind, are the internet, and having Victoria’s phone number.

Victoria VonDoogle Demon’sBane, Isaac’s only friend, is an engineer of sorts, crafting new and interesting mechanical contraptions from old and forgotten science, and perhaps a little of something else. She is much in demand, and the life of every party, club event, and convention - or rather she would be, if she ever managed to show up. Everyone assumes she, like Isaac, is too wrapped up in her projects, or perhaps she attending some other events.

Sophia is a dark, intelligent, and often brutal little girl from around the neighborhood - who likes to spend her time inconveniencing the grumpy and mysterious old hermit next door (Isaac). Her brother, “Space”, who is… “less gifted”, tags along wherever she goes - much to her dismay.

Doctor Stop is the local mad scientist. His dangerous and ill-contrived experiments make little sense to anyone. He understands more about the strange happenings in the town of New Innsmouth than any other person, though does not see them as all too strange, simply fascinating. He keeps his findings, his experiments, and the nature of his studies to himself - and perhaps this is why the townies have mistaken him for a doctor of medicine.

Nurse Wound, the Doctor’s assistant, is the last person any doctor would want to have access to the stock room, and has little to no official medical training. She is however better acquainted with arcane metaphysics than any real nurse would be, and not easily surprised or frightened, making her perfect for the job.

Though the series itself is very strange fiction, future-past, and set well within the realms of steampunk, This issue centers around Isaac, amd makes for more of a metaphysical comedy, with a heavily gothic spin.

I *would* recommend steampunk enthusiasts wait for the next issue, but being without the first would make the second hard to follow. Besides, there are mad scientists, labs, boilers, mechanical contraptions, and plenty cultural references; I wouldn’t call this issue a “Steampunk Comic”, I would however recommend it to you anyway as the beginning of the series.