EDITOR’S NOTE: Once things return to normal following the coronavirus crisis, most of us are going to be on limited budgets. I seriously doubt real comics fans are going to give up their hobby, but they’ll need to be more selective and will probably pass up some books they might normally pick up.
That’s probably going to hurt the smaller indie publishers more than the Big Two, and that would be a shame.
As a comics blogger, I sometimes get advance review copies of upcoming books. I’m going to try to review as many as possible and post them here early enough that readers can then make informed decisions about their purchase choices. Even more important, comic shops are going to need their customer base to step up and pre-order as much as possible. I’m concerned that many books that deserve an audience won’t benefit because comic shops are going to cut back on quantity, and probably not going to bring in a book they have no pre-orders for.
I'll be using the PROJECT F.O.C.US header to draw attention to these pre-release reviews. I hope you'll come to trust my opinions, and will use these to make informed choices about what books to pre-order and assist your local comic shop in managing their assets. The F.O.C. in F.O.C.US stands for Final Order Cutoff. I just love acronyms that allow me to make a pun at the same time.
NOTE: FINAL ORDER CUT-OFF FOR THE FULL VOLUME IS MONDAY, MAY 11
A WALK THROUGH HELL, VOLUME 1: THE WAREHOUSE (Aftershock Comics, December 2018) Garth Ennis, writer. Goran Sudzuka, artist.Trade paperback, 120 pages. ISBN #1935002457 / 9781935002451
Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .
So these two FBI agents walk into a warehouse…
Special Agents Shaw and McGregor handle the routine cases nowadays, which is just the way Shaw likes it. She’s pushing 40, a borderline burnout, the ghastly memories of her last investigation still clinging like shadows. McGregor is younger, more dedicated, hanging onto some measure of idealism whatever the world might throw at him.
When two fellow agents go missing inside a Long Beach warehouse, Shaw and McGregor are sent to investigate. But what they find waiting is far from routine, as the local police have already discovered to their cost. Before the night is out, our heroes will encounter terror beyond their most appalling nightmares―in a place where the night may never end at all.
A new kind of horror story for modern America, written by Garth Ennis (‘Preacher’, ‘The Boys’, ‘Crossed’) and drawn by Goran Sudžuka (‘Y: The Last Man’, ‘Hellblazer’)
My Four-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .
Volume 1: The Warehouse reprints Issues #1-5, the first part of the 12-issue story. Garth Ennis straddles the line between crime and horror, and dives deep into the psyches of FBI agents. Is the warehouse a gateway to Hell where those who enter have to revisit their guilty past, in a state of seemingly lifelessness (no heartbeat) yet still mobile and aware?
I've read several Goodreads reviews of this where the reader mentions the book being muddled and confusing, and I have to agree -- because I also was a bit confused on first reading. There are numerous flashbacks throughout the story, some seem incidental and unimportant while others drip with relevance. However, I was intrigued enough by the circumstances to want to read it again, and a bit slower the second time. That's all it took to get the full gist of what Ennis is attempting to do here. There's quite a bit more here than a simple police procedural.
The horrific Christmas mass shooting inside a shopping mall that opens the story seems unrelated until some detective work in the latter part of the story uncovers the connection to a larger investigation. A tactical S.W.A.T. unit that turns their guns on each other also makes more sense when considered a part of the bigger picture.
The FBI investigating team of Shaw and McGregor will remind some of the X-Files team. Shaw is an aggressive female agent with smarts and skills that doesn't get enough respect. Neither does her partner, McGregor, simply because he's gay. There's a side story centering on a nasty encounter with a homophobic male chauvinist agent who dislikes both of them, and directs his ire at the female head of the department as well.
Two fellow agents, both associates of Shaw and McGregor, enter a warehouse on an investigative lead and don't emerge after four hours. A S.W.A.T. team is dispatched, and retreats from the warehouse, cowering in fear after only several minutes inside. Shaw and McGregor venture inside and become lost in a dark labyrinth that leads them down some even darker trails. They find the missing agents; and neither one will be productive workers again. There's a homeless couple with child inside, huddled together in death. How and why remain unexplained.
As they search for meaning as well as a way out, Shaw and McGregor are plagued by deep-seated insecurities and fears. Shaw even hears the voice of the pedophile serial killer from their previous assignment goading her on. That now closed case still troubles the team, none more so than Shaw who unbeknownst to her partner took justice in her own hands to provide both evidence and resolution to that investigation.
The story raises many questions before the first volume ends on a cliffhanger.
The entire mini-series is about to be collected in a deluxe hardcover edition to be released in late May, and I'm considering ordering a copy through my local comic shop. Even though I've read this I'd prefer to have a more permanent edition. I'm thinking another reading might reward my efforts.
No comments:
Post a Comment