Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Shuddertown #1
Release Date: 3/24/2010
Image Comics
Spencer & Geen
There are crime comic books and there are crime comic books that push limits. This one pushes limits while staying true to the crime noir genre. This issue isn’t just setup of the story, but the introduction of the main character, Isaac, and it gives a long look into his personality. What comes out is a decent mystery in a comic book where all of the characters could fall on the protagonist or antagonist side.
The premise of the comic book is that dead bodies are getting found around the town and that the lead suspects are already dead themselves. That’s correct, the dead are killing. The first thought is that this is some kind of zombie comic book or variation of it. However, the story is told in such a way that you feel grounded in something as close to the real world that anything is possible. It could easily be just a good cover up caper or it could end up being alien mutants for all we know. The comic book sucks you because of the depths that Isaac is dragged into.
Isaac, from page one, is a pathetic looking characters. He’s hanging out in strip clubs, with some kind of open wound on his side while trying to dig up information about his cases. As the comic book rolls along we learn more about Isaac and it seems like he could be just hallucinating everything with some of his behavior. For the most part, he’s barely a likeable scumbag and that’s a good thing for a crime noir story.
The artwork does a terrific job of pointing the story in a dark direction. The coloring helps to add in some psychedelic elements to create an atmosphere where the reader just isn’t sure if everything is what it seems to be. I liked the artwork and felt the shading and grainy look added a lot to the tone of the book.
This is not a comic book for everyone. The story moves quickly and threatens to leave you behind if you don’t pay close attention. The characters in the story aren’t supposed to be your stereotypical heroes and villains. Everyone in here is some shade of gray. The plot isn’t the driving factor in the story, but the character’s behavior is essential in telling the story. Many of these elements make up the modern look for crime noir comic books as seen in Brubaker’s Criminal. This is a comic book trying to test those boundaries and the first issue a good start. If you like crime dramas where characters aren’t the best role models then this is the comic book for you.
4 out of 5 Geek Goggles
