Echoes #5

Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov
Art by Rahsan Ekedal

Echoes was an excellent little series.  Fialkov and Edekal put together a compelling and smart story about a man suffering from schizophrenia who starts to question his own actions and self-control after his father admits to being a serial killer on his deathbed.  The man, Brian Cohn, follows his father's request, and discovers a stash of dolls made of human flesh.  Later, Brian starts to see father everywhere, and starts finding evidence suggesting that he has done the same thing to a little girl.

As the series progresses, Brian and the reader continuously question what is going on, and as we see things from his perspective, we are just as confused as he is.  With this last issue, Brian is brought into custody, and while he now has figured out what has happened to him, there are questions of credibility and proof which he is unable to answer.

This book definitely kept my interest, and I appreciated the twists that Fialkov built into his story.  The portrayal of mental illness is an interesting one.  We can see how Brian tries to be a good person, but because of his disease, is ultimately not even able to have faith in himself.  It's rare to find a thriller that doesn't demonize mental illness.  Ekedal's artwork is very capable, while not really drawing much attention to itself.  This is a series people should check out when it's published in trade.