Tara Normal #1 and #2
Written and Drawn by: Howie Noel
Website: TaraNormal.com

Tara Normal is about “a female paranormal investigator with supernatural powers fighting for her late mother’s soul.”  The series has its origins online where the comic is first published weekly as a webcomic.  I’m not much for reading a page a week so a collected edition of the book suits me just fine.

Tara Normal can see ghosts.  She can even punch them.  She’s renowned because she’s proven to the world that ghosts exist.  The world is simply amazed by the revelation.  Even the world’s religions are happy because Tara has proved that there is more to life after you die.  She’s kind of like a one-woman Ghostbuster minus the proton pack.

The series starts off with Tara and her team being sucked into a mystery of an old asylum and some grisly murders that occurred there many years before.  It is the same asylum where a TV series called Ghost Soldiers has decided to shoot their next episode.  Ghost Soldiers is in trouble.  Since Tara revealed to the world that ghosts truly exist their ratings have not gone up but down.  This episode needs to be a ratings success or the show could find itself cancelled.

Not knowing what they are getting themselves into the Ghost Soldiers crew ends up unleashing a very powerful spirit.  This spirit gains power as it starts picking off the cast one-by-one.  Of course there’s only one person who isn’t afraid to face ghosts or save the day.  Luckily she’s the title character of the comic.

It’s also a mystery that Tara wants to delve into because somehow her late mother is linked to this asylum.  While Tara can talk to ghosts, she’s unable to talk to her mother.  It’s something that haunts Tara to the core and truly is a mystery in itself.  Follow the clues and perhaps it’ll lead to the biggest payoff of Tara’s young life.

Tara Normal is a fantastic book written and drawn by Howie Noel.  I’ve been a huge fan of his for years thanks to his former book Mr. Scootles about a cartoon character who is sent to hell (if that sentence intrigues you find the book — it is mind-blowing).  Tara is a bit like Scooby Doo on steroids… minus the dog.  It’s a paranormal thriller with hints of romance.  There are ghosts getting their heads busted off!!!  Which is totally awesome because their heads totally go POOF.

Of course there is Tara herself who makes for a compelling protagonist.  The byline talks about her fighting for her late mother’s soul, which is something we haven’t seen yet.  I’m sure, as the storyline continues, we’ll see just how the story of Tara’s mother ties into this mysterious asylum and the ghostly killer.

The great thing about this comic is, if you have any interest, you can check it out at TaraNormal.com and read the story as it is first published online.  The first issue is available for purchase there with the second issue coming shortly.  For those on Comixology the book is available for download as well.

Tara Normal‘s a great book with an amazingly original story and beautiful artwork by Noel.  It’s a phenomenal indie book to support while being so realized that it almost never comes off feeling indie at all.  It’s original and Lord knows that the world can use more originality.

NEXT WEEK: We take a look at Red Anvil’s Owlgirls — recently funded by Kickstarter and ready to unleash upon the world!

Have an indie comic you’d like to see reviewed?  Contact Ryan at rdmclelland@hotmail.com

Special thanks to Don Edwards for the logo!

POSTSCRIPT: There’s currently a Kickstarter going for the future Tara Normal graphic novel.  It’s already made its goal (NICE!) so the collection will be in the grubby little mitts of fans sometime soon.  You can check out the Kickstarter at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hcnoel/tara-normal