Can a man of faith believe?
Creative Staff:
Story: Jeff Lemire
Art: Andrea Sorrentino
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Steve Wands
What They Say:
The unlikely small-town detective duo of Father Fred and Sheriff Miller comes face to face with a terrifying killer deep in the back roads of Gideon Falls. Meanwhile, Xu hypnotizes Norton, and they begin to unlock the secrets of his childhood and his uncanny link to the horrifying Black Barn!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The slow but steady march of Gideon Falls has been interesting but it hasn’t had that big hook for me since the early part with the Black Barn. That may not make for a highly engaging work issue to issue but there are plenty of things that keeps it interesting and leaves me wanting more. As Lemire and Sorrentino move us closer to the end of the first part of the run there’s definitely a good sense of things ramping up with new reveals provided, some connections strengthened, and then a big play that shows more of the darkness that exists in this place.
A good part of this book deals with Father Fred as he continues to try and unravel what Doc Sutton has to reveal. Sutton’s got a bit of the crazy about him with his board that shows all the connections but there’s a lot of history about the Black Barn going back to the 1700’s and you can understand there being a group called the Ploughmen that might have tried to stand against this in a local way. It has a lot of shades of Twin Peaks throughout it that delights because of this. The Father isn’t exactly convinced by all of this and some time spent with the sheriff, Miller, later on to try and figure it out reveals that the Ploughmen was just an agricultural club that used the Black Barn to explain away dark things happening. She’s plenty reasonable with him about everything though the news that one of her men, Ballard, may be in this club catches her the wrong way.
Mixed into all of this we get more time with Xu as she reflects on Norton’s past and how he’s had problems for so long, trying to use that as a way to explain away what he’s dealing with. But that can happen only so long as she starts having more visions of the Black Barn herself that really does freak her out. Enough so to drive her to Norton as a believer, which could be the start of a bad cult here depending on how far gone she is and what he continues to do. Having this unfold and then shifting into new darkness in Gideon Falls itself that the sheriff is called into while with Father Fred is the right kind of hook at the end. It’s certainly dark and gruesome even with what little we actually see and just seeing the way that Father Fred and the sheriff are getting along makes it utterly delightful.
In Summary:
I won’t say that I’ve struggled with Gideon Falls but rather I keep finding that it’s a series that I know will read better in trade/extended form than monthly. But I want that bit of discovery each month to be able to delve into the issue in its parts rather than as a whole so I’m definitely invested in it for the long run. This issue builds on things well with more foundations established and a growing sense of unease that hits us hard toward the end. Sorrentino has a great two-panel spread in the middle of the book with Xu and Norton that’s just delightful and I love the power of the pages with Fred and Miller on the porch talking. And all that work put into Sutton’s mystery board? Damn! Good stuff but it’s for a specific audience right now.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Image Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: June 20th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
