Rating: 
Summary: very fun gothy comic
Review: At first when a friend got me a copy of Gloomcookie, I was afriad it would be just a ripoff of some other goth genre comic (Like Sandman or Jhonny the Homicidal Maniac). But when I flipped through it, I was suprised with the originality, pleased with the humorous writing style, and impressed by the slick black & white artwork.
Gloomcookie is a fun read, and great for anyone girl who has ever dreamed their boyfriend would turn into a gargoyle, kidnap her from her job in order to escape from Vincent Price, fly her to New Orleans and then take her shopping. This is a very girl friendly comic, which focuses on relationships and breakups, new relationships and agnst.
Obviously, it is not exclusively for girls, I'm sure that anyone with an interest in goth culture would like it. In many ways it is right on, from going to the clubs, coming home alone, then going out for coffee and complaining to your friends. It pokes fun at goths too (mostly making fun of bad poetry, and LARPers) but the humor isn't offensive. All in all, this is a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Parody of Gothicism!
Review: For anyone who wants to approach the Goth lifestyle from an aloof perspective, search no further! Gloomcookie manages to incorporate all the tragic, yet inescapable aspects of those of us "Dark" individuals -- love gone wrong, revenge, and yes, even **BAD** Goth poetry. The characters really are interesting and fresh, particularly the love sick Vermilion and the sassy, taunting Chrys. Definitely worth your time and money.
Rating: 
Summary: Pleasantly gloomy (pun intended)
Review: I found the story a bit empty at times, with large holes left in the plot. But I still thoroughly enjoyed this comic. I must admit, I don't read comics often (it's only one of my most recently-developed habits)... so I'm not exactly familiar with the genre. The artwork was dark and definitely beautiful. I liked this book so much that I just purchased Volume Two, and I can't wait for it to arrive... :)
Rating: 
Summary: Stupidity that strives to pass itself off as intelligent.
Review: I know it can be argued that this book is a bit of an "inside joke" directed towards the goth community. Now as much as this rant can make me seem I'm one of those outsiders that just doesn't "get" this social parody and idlely snubbing it out of my misunderstanding, I can assure you I was really into the culture... well until I got older. I do get what the author tries to pass off as humor, but to be honest she does a poor job of it. Simply put, your not very funny Ms. Valentino. The art is poorly done, even by the standards of Slave Labor publishing label. The publishers are looking for another Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and I think it would be healthier to go in a different direction. I love Jhonen Vasquez, but even he realized Johnny was becoming played out. I found Invader Zim a refreshing change. On the subject of Gloomcookie again, It strikes out. I'd suggest another title like JTHM.
Rating:
Summary: Stupidity that strives to pass itself off as intelligent.
Review: I know it can be argued that this book is a bit of an "inside joke" directed towards the goth community. Now as much as this rant can make me seem I'm one of those outsiders that just doesn't "get" this social parody and idlely snubbing it out of my misunderstanding, I can assure you I was really into the culture... well until I got older. I do get what the author tries to pass off as humor, but to be honest she does a poor job of it. Simply put, your not very funny Ms. Valentino. The art is poorly done, even by the standards of Slave Labor publishing label. The publishers are looking for another Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and I think it would be healthier to go in a different direction. I love Jhonen Vasquez, but even he realized Johnny was becoming played out. I found Invader Zim a refreshing change. On the subject of Gloomcookie again, It strikes out. I'd suggest another title like JTHM.
Rating: 
Summary: It did get better towards the end
Review: I was too hard on this story when I first started reading it. I wasn't sure if it was meant to be a comic book representation of the gothic response to banal reality or simply a [bad] made-up story. I found it fragmented and directionless in the beginning, but that's not uncommon when you're creating a new series from scratch.Gloomcookie starts with a teeny, tiny goth girl named Lex and her dysfunctional relationship with another goth named Max. They go to goth clubs with their goth friends and behave in a very tragic-goth manner. Slowly, a story emerges through flashbacks, fantasies and dreams. It's not a bad story at all, it just feels kind of rough. Overall, the story was only okay, but does hold a lot of potential. I plan on trying vol. 2.
Rating:
Summary: A+ for the art, D for junior-high-school level writing
Review: The visuals for Gloomcookie were so overwhelmingly beautiful that i ordered every single issue based on the covers alone, hoping this would be the next "Lenore" or "Johnny The Homicidal Maniac." My mistake. The storyline and writing, supplied by Serena Valentino, is just horrible. The entire series reads like a junior-high-school level book: puerile, overwhelmingly basic, lack of character development and depth, dialogue that reads like a bad soap opera or after-school tv drama. The characters use very simple, 6th-grade level speech and resort to using the F-word to express emotion--a clear sign that the author cannot properly express anger/hurt/frustration with true writing skills, so the easy way out is to use the F-word. The plot is anticlimactic, and definitely not the sign of a good writer. Take a look at anything by Jhonen Vasquez or Roman Dirge and you will see how they properly craft ingenious characters and dimensional scenes of humour, anger, drama, and imagination. Their writing is by far 100x more witty and intelligent than Gloomcookie and will stimulate you to no end. And by the way, they don't need to use curse words because they CAN write. Gloomcookie's one saving grace: Ted Naifeh. His illustrations blow me away. Exquisite, rich, and emotionally illustrated, Naifeh's art does not subscribe to comic-book-art guidelines--it's modern, sharp, graphically astounding. Think "Batman the cartoon series" a sort of dark art-deco type of feel but more gothic. Gloomcookie will not amuse you in terms of content--it bored me so much that i stopped reading it and just admired Naifeh's art. In fact, it is Ted Naifeh who keeps Gloomcookie from floundering--it's the only redeeming thing that makes me give this an extra 2 stars (otherwise, I'd only give it 1 star). He needs to do his own project with another person--preferably one who knows how to write. Gloomcookie is all style, no substance. I'm not even inclined to order the rest of the issues.
Rating:
Summary: A supernatural story wrapped in a comedy of manners
Review: What strikes me most about this graphic novel is the skilful plotting, and its skilful blend of a supernatural tale with humour. It begins as a comedy of manners, satirizing goth clubgoers and their social and sexual mores.
This wrapper, however, conceals an elaborate tale concerning monsters and freaks who seek to escape a mysterious carnival. Of course, we're dealing with -Dark Shadows- fans, so some of the monsters are sympathetic, even lovable; it is not a tale of trite physical terror. Various characters introduced as mere humans are revealed to have parts in the supernatural side of the tale.
The clever interweaving of the satirical social vignettes with the ongoing supernatural saga gives both stories stature they would not have on their own. The art is generally quite good, toony but straightforward, and captures the mood well.
Rating:
Summary: A supernatural story wrapped in a comedy of manners
Review: What strikes me most about this graphic novel is the skilful plotting, and its skilful blend of a supernatural tale with humour. It begins as a comedy of manners, satirizing goth clubgoers and their social and sexual mores.
This wrapper, however, conceals an elaborate tale concerning monsters and freaks who seek to escape a mysterious carnival. Of course, we're dealing with -Dark Shadows- fans, so some of the monsters are sympathetic, even lovable; it is not a tale of trite physical terror. Various characters introduced as mere humans are revealed to have parts in the supernatural side of the tale.
The clever interweaving of the satirical social vignettes with the ongoing supernatural saga gives both stories stature they would not have on their own. The art is generally quite good, toony but straightforward, and captures the mood well.
Rating:
Summary: Gloom Cookie! Gloom Yummy!
Review: what?! you don't have this book yet? Gloom Cookie is a must have for goths and non-goths alike. It's delightful and a masterpiece. Ted and Serena are so very talented, and after meeting them at Comic-Con 2000 in San Diego, I'd have to say you'd be pretty icky if you didn't pick up this novel.
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