Gutsville is the most overlooked series of the last year, but it’s hard to blame anyone – it’s taken nearly that long for just three issues to come out. It’s a shame really, for if memory serves, there was positive buzz behind the book when it started, with issue one a sellout and positive reviews all around. Proving again there’s no amount of momentum and sales hopes that can’t be killed by shipping delays.

The premise is a grabber – there’s a town living in the belly of a great whale, rift with a vicious caste system and a culture equal parts Victorian London and Puritan America, and rife with percolating revolution and dangerous magic-play. Not to mention the giant rats.

As fresh and original as the story and scripting feels, the real star is Frazier Irving’s moody and evocative artwork. Irving’s work has always impressed, from the Klarion mini from Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers epic, to the criminally underrated Iron Man: The Inevitable by Joe Casey. In Gutsville he adds a bit of finer detail to his impressionistic coloring and tendency for near-abstract background work, a perfect match for the tension between the fantasy and grittiness of the story.

This series will certainly make a great trade, as they say, and since I’m guessing too many are missing it in issues due to its singularity and production delays, I really hope the collection finds its audience. I would love to see our Beloved Hosts, not to mention the rest of the iFanbase, take a chance on this beautiful and unique book.