Publisher: Image Comics
Writer/Artist: Rich Tomasso
Release Date: 5th August

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There have been some excellent takes on Noir in comics from its early pulp incarnations, with the likes of Sin City, Blacksad and Fatale setting a fiercely high bar in a range of styles. So when Tomasso comes along with his take on the genre, drawn in a manner that sits somewhere between Osamu Tezuka and Hergé, this should work well. But, on many levels, it’s an unsatisfying mess.

I’ll start with the art, which for many will immediately be a turn-off. Now juxtaposing almost childlike art with gritty content can sometimes work to great effect, but here it feels sloppy and inconsistent. In the first tale, of the two within, a dog is central to the action (well, sort of) and between frames in the first 3 pages I would swear it changed breeds – I actually thought it was a different dog, initially. The art isn’t clever and witty; it’s snide and dull, from an artist who can readily create a dark sense of whimsy (vid. Deadly Class).

The narratives are both tired and inconsistent. There’s no true sense of the conventions of the genre in terms of structure and representations, with the actual narrative in each getting lost between Tomasso trying to create an “interesting” story that overlays it. Instead, the reveals seem meaningless and the characters uninteresting.

I have a lot of respect for folk who strike it out alone. When they then getting the backing of a big gun like Image, it should be a winner. Sadly, this collection of noirish tales are a whole lot of miss.

Rating: 1/5.

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The Writer of this piece was: Sam Graven
You can follow Sam on Twitter

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