Grand Guignol Orchestra Volume 5 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Rated T+ for “Older Teen”

Lucille is the cross-dressing, mysterious beauty who leads the Traveling Grand Orchestra.  Singing for the masses, this orchestra travels a land infested by people infected with the Guignol Virus.  This pathogen turns people into “zombie dolls” that are intent on killing humans.  Celestite, who masquerades as her late brother, Elestial (“Eles”), is the orchestra’s newest member, playing piano and getting deeper into an ages-old conspiracy.

Grand Guignol Orchestra, Vol. 5 (entitled Troubadour’s Love Song) is the final volume of the series.  Light is shed on the darkest of dark secrets – the mystery behind the Guignol Virus.  As Lucille, Kohaku, and Gwindel make their last stand, the official Grand Orchestra provides the music.  Queen Gemsilica prepares to unleash the “Divine Lightning,” but is this really her decision?  Eles has a front row seat to this grand finale.  Will she survive?

THE LOWDOWN:  The end of Grand Guignol Orchestra comes as a surprise to me.  I believe that this series certainly could have run for another five volumes.  Creator Kaori Yuki wraps up this story by resolving so many subplots and conspiracies – most of them quite intriguing – that one must wonder, why the hurry?  The depths of gothic splendor and splendid rot in Grand Guignol Orchestra have hardly been plumbed.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Fans looking for highly unusual comic books with a touch of creepy will want to try Grand Guignol Orchestra.

B+