A shocking murder that nobody wants to investigate.
Creative Staff:
Story: Mat Johnson
Art: Warren Pleece
Letterer: Clem Robins
What They Say:
After a black writer is found dead at a scandalous interracial party in 1920s New York, Harlem’s cub reporter Zane Pinchback is the only one determined to solve the murder. Zane must go ”incognegro” for the first time–using his light appearance to pass as a white man–to find the true killer, in this prequel miniseries to the critically acclaimed Vertigo graphic novel, now available in a special new 10th Anniversary Edition.
With a cryptic manuscript as his only clue, and a mysterious and beautiful woman as the murder’s only witness, Zane finds himself on the hunt through the dark and dangerous streets of ”roaring twenties” Harlem in search for justice.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With the original Incognegro book back in 2008 doing quite well, even getting reviewed in the New York Times, it’s probably a surprise that it’s taken as long as it has to get this book out there, even if it is essentially a prequel. I hadn’t read Johnson and Pleece’s original work and this doesn’t require that knowledge of it, just the desire to read something new and different from what populates most of the shelves out there. Under the Berger Books line, this is an ideal early launch title that harkens back to what a lot of Karen Berger edited over the years and it’s a strong match overall. While I’ve been more a fan of international murder mystery TV shows the last few years, something like this helps to “shake things up” a bit from what I normally get.
The series takes place in the 1920’s where we’re introduced primarily to ane Pinchback, a younger reporter who works at the New Holland paper and is struggling to bring his idealism and hope out with the realities of living in Harlem compared to the books and magazines he’s read. He’s doing mostly photography work at the moment but thanks to an invite from a friend he’s managed to end up up something that’s all the talk, an interracial party. It’s for a writer who, after twenty years of no good works, has a new one out thanks to a “guide” to Harlem that he worked with named Xavier. Xavier’s quite the character and the drunker he gets at the party the more of a scene he makes, which frustrates Zane since he knows that they have to be on their best behavior even among a party like this with people who aren’t seemingly filled with hatred of people like him. Of course, even in this kind of environment, there are plenty that don’t hide their racism from those that they think they’re safe with and Zane gets to hear some of that because of how light skinned he is.
While a murder is what gets events fully underway with what Zane is trying to solve and write about, the real story is that because of his light skinned nature and ability to cross the “color line” is that he can pursue it in a way that others cant. The biggest hurdle we see early on here is simply the fact that the police want nothing to do with it, ruling an obvious murder a suicide, and hearing how the cops even tell Zane that it’s not worth it as so many mistake him for white. The problem for Zane is that he doesn’t want to lie about who he is but is increasingly finding that it may be the only thing that helps him figure all of this out. It becomes a lie by omission as he’s simply not correcting people, but even that will eat at someone like him who wants to play fully by the rules.
In Summary:
Murder mystery books can be a lot of fun when they’re out of familiar territory. I have little use for things like most of the primetime TV shows but have an affection for an array of murder mysteries on Netflix produced in a range of countries around the world. Incognegro presents something similar in that it’s not the same as it digs into the 1920’s and the state of race relations then in New York City, which is as complicated as ever. Mat Johnson puts in a lot of stage setting here to get everyone on the same page with how it was for most people and some of the unique problems that some like Zane had as well. Warren Pleece’s artwork is fantastic with a lot of great backgrounds and intriguing characters that populates the world, making you look twice at everyone because someone could be involved. I’m definitely intrigued and have hope that it’ll grow in some interesting ways as Zane discovers more of the truth of the world and the murder.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: February 7th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
