PopSyndicate.com

The world can be a scary place but when you add in huge, talking animals that act very, very human, the world gets just a bit scarier.  With Elephantmen, Richard Starkings and Moritat expand on the world Starkings created in Hip Flask, his pulp-noir-science fiction story featuring Hip Flask, a hippo detective.  In this first issue, Starkings does a nice job of producing a stand-alone story, completely independent of anything that’s come before yet a solid introduction to this world if you missed the previous series. 

Ebenezer, an intelligent, trench-coat wearing elephant, knows that this is not the world he was meant to be in.  He and his kind are artificial constructs that were only meant to serve as war machines.  He’s reminded of this one night when he meets Savannah, an innocent ten year old girl who doesn’t realize that she’s asking some very personal and painful questions.  She’s naturally curious about the Elephantmen, knowing only what her overly protective mother and friends have told her about these “monsters” and “animals.” Savannah’s questions force Ebenezer to remember his past when he fought a war that wasn’t his own and committed atrocities in the name of his “masters.” Once he fought in a war, carried guns and killed innocents.  Now, he tries to be just another guy wearing an ill-fitting suit and trench coat.  When the girl’s mother catches her with Ebenezer, she pulls her daughter away, scared by this creature her daughter’s with.  Can it really be bigotry if it’s aimed toward something you should fear?  “Nothing changes,” Ebenezer mumbles to himself as he realizes that Savannah didn’t see the same thing her mother and most humans do.  She didn’t see an animal but saw another person who just needed a friend.

Moritat produces a slick looking book.  Providing both the artwork and the coloring, Moritat nicely compliments Starking’s story.  Consistent with Landronn’s previous work on Hip Flask, it blends in with the already-established world of talking animals and still seems quite human.  Ebenezer’s posture and expressions portray the character’s moods and emotions while still remaining an elephant.  If an elephant could express human emotions, this is what it would look like.

On the flipside of this book, Starkings and Moritat provide the human perspective of this world as a man walks through the city trying to think of something else other than the animal-presence in his world.  It’s a nice balance to the first story as the man provides a counter-argument to Savannah’s innocent view of the elephantmen. 

If you’re looking for a new world to discover, check out Starkings and Moritat’s Elephantmen.  It’s a world that’s just different enough from our own to be intriguing, seductive and scary.

Elephantmen #1
“See the Elephant” and “Just Another Guy Named Joe”
Written by: Richard Starkings
Drawn and Colored by: Moritat

4