The Country of Wolves by Neil Christopher (review)

Two brothers hunting for seal in the Arctic end up trapped on an ice floe that carries them far from home, into a strange village. After the pair splits up to look for help, the elder brother encounters a strange old woman, who informs him that the siblings have come to the Country of Wolves, where wolves shift in and out of human form, and that his brother is likely already dead. She offers him her magical sagguut—a pole that will point him in the direction of home—and encourages him to leave the unsafe place. He escapes, pursued by the wolf people, and is able to shoot the leader with an arrow on the trek, which throws the rest of the pack into chaos. The brother returns home to his wife and curls up by the fire—only to be proven already dead, his decomposing body compelled to make it home one last time. Based on an animated short film and adapted from an Inuit tale, this graphic novel employs tight language that evokes oral storytelling to produce a tangibly creepy atmosphere (“In this light she appeared savage, lupine, inhuman”). This effect is enhanced by the illustrations, which employs the thick black lining and saturated color of comic books modified by digital effects to create hazy landscapes and a luminescent moon and by an often cold-hued palette. The eerie wolf people are indistinct, feral shadows with glowing eyes and sharp, ghostlike fangs. A truly chilling tale that will entrance fans of both horror and folklore, this is an intriguing example of oldest stories translated into newest media. A detailed source note and a DVD of the film in both English and North Baffin Inuktitut are included.