RECENT REVIEWS:

Vintage Tattoos: The Book of Old-School Skin Art by Carol Clerk»

All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America? by Joel Berg»

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell»

Execution’s Doorstep: True Stories of the Innocent and Near Damned by Leslie Lytle»

Red, White, and Brew: An American Beer Odyssey by Brian Yaeger»

Summing up Tom Manning's oddly absorbing Runoff is not a simple task. There's a bloodthirsty monster, ancient curses, ominous wolves, and an unidentified flying object. But it is easy to describe Manning's dedication to an ambitious vision, many years in the making.

The graphic novelist initially conceived his über-DIY project as a series of individual black-and-white comics. Ultimately, his mix of mystery, horror, action and offbeat humor found a home in indie publisher Oddgod Press. Since Oddgod isn't anywhere close to the big leagues, Manning acted as his own editor, and his inexperience shows at times. But Oddgod gave his work a more reader-friendly format. When the last of three volumes was published, it carried an enthusiastic imprimatur: a cover blurb from Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo Del Toro. A collaborative film based on the book might be in the works.

The story's crazy mood, setting (a fictional small town in Washington state) and quirky ensemble cast (memorably including a feisty nonagenarian mayor and a dancing monkey) draw inevitable comparisons to Twin Peaks and The X-Files, but it's no mere clone. Witnessing Manning's craft evolve over subsequent issues of Runoff is a treat. He plays with the visual format by mixing in Bloom County-style comic strips for levity, a stylistic device that works best in small doses. If you can get past the initial sketchiness -- in particular, Manning should re-letter the difficult-to-read volume one -- there's a huge leap in quality from the first to the second volume. Furthermore, despite the sometimes clunky tonal shifts, he scores a huge victory by tying together the many characters and plot threads into a satisfyingly defiant ending. Manning is a talent to watch.