New from Dusk Comics is “The Trials and Tribulations of Miss Tilney”, a nod to the old British penny dreadful stories (early pulp fiction) that features the titular character as a columnist for the London Post, whose desire for a more juicy assignment lands her in the middle a conspiracy most foul.

If you’re looking for a comic with high on the depth and light on the cheese, this isn’t for you. It’s a pulp story, and that’s what you should expect going in. In the first of three issues, Henrietta Tilney awarded an assignment to interview the accused murderers Lord Beowulf Harwood and Dr. Plum. The pair has been accused of hunting down and killing people a la The Most Dangerous Game. After visiting the prison and talking to the charming and scrappy Lord Harwood, Miss Tilney becomes convinced of the men’s innocence and offers to help them escape. She returns with Harwood and Plum to their estate in the hopes to further uncover the truth behind the murders and her new companions’ framing.

While neither the story nor the writing blew me away, I really appreciated the Gothic style and art. At the same time, I found the colors rather flat and uninteresting, though the last few panels  were well done certainly peeked my interest (read it and you’ll see why) as the fate of Miss Tilney is left as a bloody cliffhanger. If you think pulp stories are silly or too cheesy…then this comic isn’t for you. However, if you are in to the genre, than the “The Trials and Tribulations of Miss Tilney” is a good salute to the old stories.