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After years of creating a fantasy world filled with elves, Wendy Pini takes a walk down the dark side with Masque of the Red Death. Instead of doing a straight adaptation (no pun intended) of the original, Pini has opted to spin this version as an homoerotic sci-fi soap opera, where the leading lovers are male, and their doom is only hinted at in this first volume.

Where there are risks, there are missteps and Pini makes a few with overly-verbose dialogue and garish costumes.


She also sets the stage for surprises ahead, which is no mean feat for a story with an ending that everyone (thinks) that they already know.



Pros

• Pini fleshes out Poe's original short story with sci-fi elements and erotic twists
• While the story is a familiar one, Pini still weaves in suspense and a few surprises
• Tastefully erotic and tender as Anton and Steffan discover their attraction for each other
• Nice to see the webcomic episodes seamlessly translated into a full-color graphic novel
• Pini takes numerous risks and looks like she's having fun exploring darker, more adult themes

Cons

• It can be disconcerting to see characters that look similar, but act very differently than her elves
• Pini's version of the future includes some frighteningly garish costumes
• Some of the dialogue is a bit overwrought and over-written
• Anton and Steffan's love scenes are pretty steamy, so this is definitely not kids stuff

Description

• Author & Artist: Wendy Pini
  Based on a short story by Edgar Allen Poe
• Publishers:Go! Comi (US)

• ISBN: 978-1605100296
• Cover Price: $19.99 US
• Age Rating:M – Mature, Age 18+ for mature content, sexual encounters
  More about content ratings.
• Manga Genres:
  • JoseiManga
  • Original English Language (OEL) Manga
  • Adult Romance
  • Drama
  • Gay / Lesbian
  • Science Fiction
• US Publication Date: September 2008
• Book Description: 184 pages, color illustrations
• More Graphic Novels by Wendy Pini:
  • Elfquest
  • Beauty and the Beast

Guide Review - Masque of the Red Death Volume 1

Edgar Allen Poe's Masque of the Red Death told of a hedonistic prince who invited his friends to a masquerade ball, as the rest of the populace succumbed to a deadly plague. The nobles indulged in all the pleasures that money could buy, but they too eventually fall to the Red Death.

But before you accuse me of spoiling the plot, you should know that Poe's story only provides a rough outline of the events that'll take place in Wendy Pini's two-volume adaptation. Pini has taken considerable liberties to flesh out this story by adding more characters, more tangled relationships and a lot more erotic heat. She's also transported the story from the historical past to a futuristic society where humans are pushing their lifespans and their capacity for decadence to the limit.

The "prince" in Pini's Masque is Anton Prosper, a rich and reclusive heir to a vast fortune. But wealth alone cannot satisfy Anton. He's on a quest to prolong human life beyond the limits already pushed by modern science. When he calls geneticist Steffan Kabala to his private island, he gains a research colleague and eventually a lover.

Playing God will eventually have its price, but for now, Anton and Steffan are just two men in lust, and just two of many characters that Pini has introduced into her sci-fi soap opera. Masque Volume 1 is mostly about introducing readers to the characters, but hopefully, the twists will get more twisted in episodes to come.

Masque of the Red Death is an artistic adventure for Pini, and one that has inspired her to take many creative risks. While there are a few missteps, such as the garish costumes, the long-winded dialogue, and a more 'grown-up' plot than most yaoi manga, it does accomplish something unexpected: It tantalizes readers to keep reading so they can see how a story that they think they know will end this time around.