But as it stands all it is doing is alienating existing readers with, what I imagine virtually no return.
See, you say that, but presumably Rebellion has numbers that say different. It's not like this is some isolated punt that Matt is taking, it's clearly part of an informed strategy.
FWIW I really don't agree that any of the art is 'basic' at any level, but I do have my doubts about its overall direction. For one example, there is some very serious craft on display in
Finder & Keeper (my favourite if the stories), boosted by Boswell's always-ace colour job, but the design choices seem odd to my ageing eyes. Our heroes are clearly young teenagers, but they are depicted as large-headed tweens, almost like hobbit-children; the setting is a construction project at a church in a cemetery, and its packed with detaiued backgrounds... but the specific details of the unsecured re-bar-free concrete* base, the hand-written signage, the post-office-style parcels of equipment, are all very soft and unconvincing: this is not what a construction site looks like, outside of Camberwick Green anyway.
Now I don't think for a minute that this is anything but a deliberate stylistic choice, carefully executed... I just wonder whether this is appealing to kids, who in my parental experience like their fiction to include (if not adults) children who are older than them, and settings that convey something of the real world. Maybe this is a Manga thing? If so, it's over my head.
I did like the story very much though, a nice bit of modernised folklore and a solid ending that answered the question that I'd had since the beginning - thought the design of the Grim itself was great and memorable, facial expressions were excellent, and the labour poured into the complex backgrounds was impressive.
*Let's not think about the appalling caustic burns Finder must have sustained wading about in liquid concrete in a pair of tights.
