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Peculia #1
Peculia
Peculia, the fifth book by Eisner Award-nominated Richard Sala, collects the stories - strange adventures of an even stranger girl - from the acclaimed comic book series Evil Eye. Follow the intrepid lass as she encounters zombies, witches, madmen, evil children, and all kinds of things that go bump in the night. Not unlike a Gothic Perils of Pauline, or Barbarella meets The Blair Witch, it's dark and bloody fun from the creator of MTV's Invisible Hands, and the author of The Ghastly Ones and The Chuckling Whatsit.
Collects Evil Eye #1-9 and a brand new colour chapter Doll Parts.
Collects Evil Eye #1-9 and a brand new colour chapter Doll Parts.
104 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2002
2 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
Richard Sala
67 books142 followersRichard Sala grew up with a fascination for musty old museums, dusty old libraries, cluttered antique shops, narrow alleyways, hidden truths, double meanings, sinister secrets and spooky old houses. He has written and drawn a number of unusual graphic novels which often combine elements of classic mystery and horror stories and which have been known to cause readers to emit chuckles as well as gasps. Although most of his books are written with teens and older readers in mind, his book, CAT BURGLAR BLACK, can be enjoyed by younger readers as well.
To view current art and activity, please visit: http://richardsala.tumblr.com
Note: I am new to GoodReads ~ and I am happy to have a place dedicated to sharing my love of books with other book lovers. Please be patient with me if I seem rather slow and clumsy! Thanks to all my readers over the years!
To view current art and activity, please visit: http://richardsala.tumblr.com
Note: I am new to GoodReads ~ and I am happy to have a place dedicated to sharing my love of books with other book lovers. Please be patient with me if I seem rather slow and clumsy! Thanks to all my readers over the years!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
July 21, 2011
The book is a series of vignettes featuring the character "Peculia", a teenage/twentysomething girl wearing a small dress who lives in a strange world filled with monsters, demons, zombies, people who dress up as superheroes, witches, and jealous ex-boyfriends who are inexplicably world-renowned villains. Welcome to the world of Richard Sala.
The stories are too short to really go anywhere (they're often around 10 pages) and feature Peculia getting into some scrape, usually being kidnapped, and then escaping.
The writing/stories aside, the real treasure in this book is Sala's artwork. The backgrounds in which he puts his weird characters makes for a hugely compelling world, filled with cottages in black forests with men in black coats and top hats stalking amongst the trees, or a gothic house on a cliff filled with dead bodies and murderous children, or castles with mad nobles living with the corpses of their beloveds.
The comparisons are many - Poe, Tim Burton, Hammer Horror, Scooby Doo, Stoker - but Sala manages to find a place amongst these greats and create a unique and original comic book. I feel there's more to Sala than this book so while I think this isn't the best comic book to read, I loved the artwork so much I'm going to buy more of his books to see if he gets better (I'm sure he will).
The stories are too short to really go anywhere (they're often around 10 pages) and feature Peculia getting into some scrape, usually being kidnapped, and then escaping.
The writing/stories aside, the real treasure in this book is Sala's artwork. The backgrounds in which he puts his weird characters makes for a hugely compelling world, filled with cottages in black forests with men in black coats and top hats stalking amongst the trees, or a gothic house on a cliff filled with dead bodies and murderous children, or castles with mad nobles living with the corpses of their beloveds.
The comparisons are many - Poe, Tim Burton, Hammer Horror, Scooby Doo, Stoker - but Sala manages to find a place amongst these greats and create a unique and original comic book. I feel there's more to Sala than this book so while I think this isn't the best comic book to read, I loved the artwork so much I'm going to buy more of his books to see if he gets better (I'm sure he will).
November 8, 2011
For Halloween I dove into a few of the handful of Richard Sala books I hadn't yet read. As I've said in my reviews of his other works, I usually don't like his books as much as I expect to, but they're so close that I keep coming back for more. Along with The Hidden, I think this is my favorite thing I've read by him. The art is a little older, but not so old that I don't like it, and the stories in Peculia are a perfect combo of absurdity, spookiness, and fun. Basically, everything that makes Sala appealing in the first place is pretty well summed up in this book.
February 1, 2012
Short little bits of story. They usually go something like this:
Peculia has slept too much (naked) or is out of cereal and needs to go for a walk. Ambrose her butler advises against it. Justine, a super-villainess has a love/hate thing with Peculia and bumps heads with her, meanwhile Peculia stumbles into a fantastic mini horror story, usually ending up with her kicking ass and her shirt being torn off. Justine works with Obscurus who wants to kidnap Peculia for himself, so he often will try to save her from monsters or a wrathful Justine so that one day they can be together. It isn't deep, but the art is amazing and the stories are silly endearing postcard images of fun adventures.
Peculia has slept too much (naked) or is out of cereal and needs to go for a walk. Ambrose her butler advises against it. Justine, a super-villainess has a love/hate thing with Peculia and bumps heads with her, meanwhile Peculia stumbles into a fantastic mini horror story, usually ending up with her kicking ass and her shirt being torn off. Justine works with Obscurus who wants to kidnap Peculia for himself, so he often will try to save her from monsters or a wrathful Justine so that one day they can be together. It isn't deep, but the art is amazing and the stories are silly endearing postcard images of fun adventures.
March 22, 2022
I have sung the praises of Richard Sala repeatedly on Goodreads, so I'm sure I don't need to repeat them at length here. The titular Peculia is the star of this collection and a later full length work. I would have loved to see more of her and her eclectic supporting characters, but unfortunately Sala died before making any more. This is still a must read for Sala fans and features his trademark macabre and bizarre characters and scenarios.
May 10, 2020
Ayer se anunció su muerte y como la mejor manera de homenajear a un autor es leerlo, bajé la app de ComiXology, donde tengo varios cómics suyo que compré hace ya un tiempo... Es la cuarta obra de él que leo. Son cuentos. Todos siguen la misma estructura: Peculia sale de su casa y se encuentra con algún ente propio del terror (una niña psicópata, brujas, cultistas, la Muerte, entre otros). Las historias son predecibles, pero no tediosas. Sala era un buen narrador, pero lo mejor de sus libros es su estilo de dibujo: expresionista y que por momentos puede recordar a los grabados de Posada, a Gorey o a las novelas sin palabras de Lynd Ward. Es un deleite ver cada página. Si nunca han leído algo de él, éste es un buen lugar para comenzar o The Hidden (2011), mi favorito de lo que he leído de Sala.
August 18, 2022
Peculia is a masterful work of graphic fiction. It has fantastic art, very catchy paneling, and the font is evocative. Richard Sala typically weaves a story full of mystery and whimsy and this is no exception. It is made up of shots stories about a mysterious girl named Peculia, that are loosely joined together but mostly she gets into some conflict in the whimsical world and it resolves. Mr Sala constructs a world that you just want to learn more about.
December 4, 2017
I adore Sala's drawing style, but I kept wanting the stories themselves to add up to a bit more than they did, or provide a bit more grit or something. Still, a fun way to while away a few evenings before bed!
March 26, 2020
Peculia is a pleasure to read, with its spooky sense of humor and expressionist backgrounds. The character designs are delightful, and I'm not just talking about the heroine's compellingly short dress - the zombies and witches and mad scientists of her world exist in that nostalgic style that's scary without really being frightening, like a cleverly ironic Halloween party. The dedication inside is for all the "peculiar children" of the world, and that's a little odd for a book that isn't about children and features so much incidental nudity. But if we're being honest here, I would have really dug this when I was 14.
And it's not that I don't dig it now, because I do, except that it seems very slight. Individual chapters are great, but the story threads they lay down add up to a two-part conclusion that doesn't really satisfy. Or really amount to a conclusion at all. I hope there's more Peculia out there, because there's just too little in this volume.
And it's not that I don't dig it now, because I do, except that it seems very slight. Individual chapters are great, but the story threads they lay down add up to a two-part conclusion that doesn't really satisfy. Or really amount to a conclusion at all. I hope there's more Peculia out there, because there's just too little in this volume.
May 12, 2020
I found out yesterday that Richard Sala died at 61, so I pulled a favorite volume from the shelf to re-read.
I first came across Sala's work in anthologies in the late 80's and early '90's. His charming cartooning style and endearing affection for the tropes of the macabre and mysterious drew me in page after page. I found his work inspiring, refreshing, poetic.
Thrilling to see his solo book "Evil Eye" when it came out, and the frequent feature "Peculia" was a special delight. She's my kind of girl. Quirky, plucky, powerful and cute. Adventure after adventure with ghouls and werewolves, zombies and jungle cats, masked menaces, and around every corner, Obscurus and Justine, with Ambrose not far off to lend a hand.
This is one slim volume that will have a place in my library for many years to come.
I first came across Sala's work in anthologies in the late 80's and early '90's. His charming cartooning style and endearing affection for the tropes of the macabre and mysterious drew me in page after page. I found his work inspiring, refreshing, poetic.
Thrilling to see his solo book "Evil Eye" when it came out, and the frequent feature "Peculia" was a special delight. She's my kind of girl. Quirky, plucky, powerful and cute. Adventure after adventure with ghouls and werewolves, zombies and jungle cats, masked menaces, and around every corner, Obscurus and Justine, with Ambrose not far off to lend a hand.
This is one slim volume that will have a place in my library for many years to come.
October 16, 2020
Started this a while ago and then got sidetracked by some longer books. Returned to it tonight to clear it off my place.
This isn’t a continuous story. Instead we get little slices of Peculia’s life. Sadly, we don’t learn much about any of the characters herein. The stories are very short, and you’re expected to just accept the archetypal roles.
It was still fun and cute and spooky. A nice, light Halloween read. Doesn’t take much time to read and it is free on unlimited so what do you have to lose 🤷🏻♀️
This isn’t a continuous story. Instead we get little slices of Peculia’s life. Sadly, we don’t learn much about any of the characters herein. The stories are very short, and you’re expected to just accept the archetypal roles.
It was still fun and cute and spooky. A nice, light Halloween read. Doesn’t take much time to read and it is free on unlimited so what do you have to lose 🤷🏻♀️
December 26, 2021
Peculia is absolutely brilliant. Delectable stories and artwork that are simultaneously monstrous, Gothically shadowy, peculiar, sexy-cute, disturbing, grotesque, and hilarious. Some of the best material I've ever experienced in any medium. Peculia herself is a fascinating, intriguing, compelling, utterly fabulous protagonist. I am profoundly thrilled to have discovered the work of Richard Sala and will most certainly be reading more of his work. A great talent treasure has been discovered near the end of a long, difficult year to make things appreciably brighter.
June 12, 2019
Creepy cute fun little stories featuring characters I wish had a gigantic omnibus dedicated to. I enjoyed this very much I read it three times through before logging it in. Sala’s art style is very cool as my second time through I didn’t even read I just focused solely on the artwork. Also, the lettering is pretty rad as well.
Love this book!
Love this book!
November 10, 2021
Sala in a sort of Saturday Morning Cartoon mode. As contentless and delightful as a big bowl of sugary cereal with monsters on the box, brought to you by your faithful butler Alphonse. Packed with Sala's signature single panel gems in the middle of dreamlike nonsense stories that somehow still feel dramatic. Fun fun fun
December 25, 2025
This looked gothic enough to be right up my street, but doesn't quite hit. The ideas of the stories are fine enough, and the humour has its moments, but the conclusion of each piece often falls a bit flat, our heroine finding her way out fo whatever ghoulish predicament that she's in via dumb luck, bringing everything to a screeching halt. An entertaining diversion, but not much beyond that.
July 16, 2017
Con el 2 recién leído, puedo afirmar que este me gustó un poco más a nivel historias (y apenitas menos a nivel dibujo) y que si finalmente no salieron más tomos es una lástima, porque me quedó con la duda de qué va a pasar con Obscurus, que en la secuela no aparece ni su sombra.
August 11, 2024
My second Richard Sala read. The first was Mad Night. I believe these are two of his earlier works. I enjoyed Peculia more simply because it was more fun.
The stories still weren’t great in here, however they are pretty silly she lighthearted which keeps it moving.
There are about 5 or 6 shorter stories revolving around the Peculia character.
I’m going to keep rolling with Sala in hopes that his storytelling improves because I enjoy the tone and art
The stories still weren’t great in here, however they are pretty silly she lighthearted which keeps it moving.
There are about 5 or 6 shorter stories revolving around the Peculia character.
I’m going to keep rolling with Sala in hopes that his storytelling improves because I enjoy the tone and art
October 31, 2017
I think I'm just not much of a Richard Sala fan. Peculia seems to me to be more of a niche read; it's a well-done book but hard to enjoy if it's not your niche. I didn't enjoy/appreciate the way women were depicted throughout the book, either.
May 15, 2020
DPL hoopla
Read
December 31, 2020Lovely
March 29, 2021
Just lovely
July 9, 2022
Extremely fun read. Gorgeous artwork, interesting characters, thought-provoking stories.
September 1, 2022
Black and white line drawings reminiscent of Charles Addams. The aesthetic is great! The stories are less so, but I'm not sure that matters.
April 26, 2024
Not my fav short/episodic stories from Sala, but his comics are always a fun time
May 13, 2025
Un producto realmente original y entretenido.
https://liblit.com/richard-sala-peculia/
https://liblit.com/richard-sala-peculia/
June 1, 2025
what was in The four photos ( ? )
There are limits that mystery may sustain without breaking ( ! )
: - - - - - : o
There are limits that mystery may sustain without breaking ( ! )
: - - - - - : o
July 23, 2017
Tomo sin numeración ni subtítulo pero que resultaría ser 1 de 2. Único dedicado a recopilar las historias cortas de Peculia previamente publicadas en la revista Evil Eye.
September 16, 2015
Der Band versammelt die mit Ausnahme der letzten Story in Schwarzweiß gedruckten haarsträubenden Geschichten von Peculia, wie sie einzeln schon in der Comic-Reihe EVIL EYE abgedruckt wurden.
Eine seltsame und skurrile Welt ist es, in der die junge Peculia mit ihrem treuen Diener Ambrose lebt: da gibt es eine Horde schrecklicher Kinder mit spitzen Zähnen, den leibhaftigen Tod, ein verliebtes Frankensteinmonster, drei böse Hexen und manch andere märchenhorrorhafte Gefahren.
Peculia wird da schon mal auserwählt als "nubile creature for forbidden occult rituals" oder soll im Kochtopf geschmort werden.
Mit einer Sorglosigkeit, wie wir sie inzwischen von der charmanten Bandette kennen, meister Peculia mit traumwandlerischer Sicherheit alle Gefahren, immer im schwarzen superkurzen Kleidchen und mit nichts als jugendlicher Unbedarftheit bewaffnet. Und wenn alle Stricke reißen, gibt es ja noch Ambrose...
Die Storys entziehen sich jeder Kategorisierung und stellen, wie auch die Artwork, eine eigene Klasse dar. Für Comicleser, die sich gern auf abseitigen Pfaden tummeln, eine unbedingte Empfehlung.
Eine seltsame und skurrile Welt ist es, in der die junge Peculia mit ihrem treuen Diener Ambrose lebt: da gibt es eine Horde schrecklicher Kinder mit spitzen Zähnen, den leibhaftigen Tod, ein verliebtes Frankensteinmonster, drei böse Hexen und manch andere märchenhorrorhafte Gefahren.
Peculia wird da schon mal auserwählt als "nubile creature for forbidden occult rituals" oder soll im Kochtopf geschmort werden.
Mit einer Sorglosigkeit, wie wir sie inzwischen von der charmanten Bandette kennen, meister Peculia mit traumwandlerischer Sicherheit alle Gefahren, immer im schwarzen superkurzen Kleidchen und mit nichts als jugendlicher Unbedarftheit bewaffnet. Und wenn alle Stricke reißen, gibt es ja noch Ambrose...
Die Storys entziehen sich jeder Kategorisierung und stellen, wie auch die Artwork, eine eigene Klasse dar. Für Comicleser, die sich gern auf abseitigen Pfaden tummeln, eine unbedingte Empfehlung.
June 7, 2008
Just sat down to reread this, and loved it all over again. Sala is at his best when mixing gothic horror with wry humor, and of course his girls always have a sense of luscious perkiness to them that I find ever so very charming.
The slapstick rivalry (romance??) between Peculia and the slightly nefarious Justine reminds me of Krazy Kat and Ignatz, but instead of a brick tossed off Krazy Kat's head, it's a kick to Justine's rear.
So, gothic slapstick horror, pretty ladies who frequently find themselves disrobed, and a rogue's gallery of occult n'er-do-wells and monsters who have hearts of gold, but remain monsters nonetheless. I love this stuff.
The slapstick rivalry (romance??) between Peculia and the slightly nefarious Justine reminds me of Krazy Kat and Ignatz, but instead of a brick tossed off Krazy Kat's head, it's a kick to Justine's rear.
So, gothic slapstick horror, pretty ladies who frequently find themselves disrobed, and a rogue's gallery of occult n'er-do-wells and monsters who have hearts of gold, but remain monsters nonetheless. I love this stuff.
March 27, 2008
When Richard Sala combines his mad goth skills with chick lit the results are mixed. The pseudo-Nancy Drew antics of "Mad Night" didn't work for me, but "Peculia" hits the bulls-eye!
Perpetually barefoot with her thin breasts always falling out of her black slip, the raven-tressed Peculia fights ogres, mod Brian Jones-looking dwarves, zombies, masked girls with capes, and other sinister forces. The art work is stylish and sexy with Sala in better humor than he's been in awhile. Fun stuff.
Perpetually barefoot with her thin breasts always falling out of her black slip, the raven-tressed Peculia fights ogres, mod Brian Jones-looking dwarves, zombies, masked girls with capes, and other sinister forces. The art work is stylish and sexy with Sala in better humor than he's been in awhile. Fun stuff.
May 20, 2014
Um deslumbre visual. Sala desenvolve pequenas e irónicas aventuras para uma heroína de negros traços góticos, reminiscentes do humor negro de Edward Gorey e com forte inspiração no terror clássico de Machen ou Hodgson. O tom literário remete para o estilo gótico clássico, enquanto o traço a preto e branco de Sala se equilibra entre as referências ao cinema de terror clássico, ilustração ao estilo de Gorey e o estilo ingénuo tão próprio deste interessante autor.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews