Shuddertown #4

Written by Nick Spencer
Art by Adam Geen

How often have you found yourself totally getting caught up into a comic without having a clue what's going on?  Okay, and now, how many times has it happened to you, and the book wasn't by Grant Morrison?

Basically, I'm very in to Shuddertown, but I'm also completely lost.  Perhaps it's the delay between issues that is messing with me.  Maybe it's the fact that characters get introduced in one issue, and then don't show up again until much later (like the reporter lady in #3, who has nothing to do with this issue).

At the end of the day, Spencer's created a very atmospheric and intriguing story, but it's hella hard to follow.  I want to see how it ends, but unless there is a ton of exposition in that last issue, I'm not sure that Spencer can pull this off.  I think I'm going to have to read all five issues at the same time, so that it's all fresh when I read the conclusion.

Shuddertown #3

Written by Nick Spencer
Art by Adam Geen

I think that Nick Spencer just might be the next Brian Michael Bendis.  He's definitely prolific, with Shuddertown being his third mini-series this year and another solicited, and he has shown himself to be versatile too, his work running the gamut from a science fiction thriller (which I haven't read yet) to a teen and post-teen drama, to this gritty police procedural with a few twists.

I've been enjoying Shuddertown, although I found this issue to be a lot more disjointed than the previous two.  There's a sequence taking up the first third of the book that I didn't really understand, although I found the dialogue riveting.  This issue introduces some new characters without really introducing them; they just appear and interact with the established characters or the storyline.  Nothing is really explained, which I usually like in a comic, but I'm a touch lost here.

Geen's art could be the culprit in some ways - not all of that opening sequence is clear, and that's largely because of Geen's heavily photo-referenced artwork.  It's odd that I don't remember noticing much about the art before, but now I want to go back and double-check to see if something in this issue is different.

Regardless, this is an interesting title and I intend to stick with it to the end.  And watch: when Spencer's the next big name at one of the Big Two, other people are going to be claiming they've been fans since this came out.

Shuddertown #2

Written by Nick Spencer
Art by Adam Geen

Where the first issue of Shuddertown drew me in right away, this issue keeps me squarely interested in Detective Hernandez and his difficult case.  Actually, nothing happens on the case of the murders that appear to have been committed by other dead people at all in this issue.  Instead, Hernandez spends the issue recovering from the beat down he received last time around, and talking to a local priest about urban decay and the history of the Shuddertown neighbourhood.

Hernandez is one messed up guy, taking drugs and getting involved with strippers.  It's clear that he's losing his grip, and seems to be stuck on a squirrel-hunting incident from his childhood.

I have no idea where this comic is going.  We keep being told on the back of the book and in interviews with the writer that 'nothing is as it seems', and I'm very interested in finding out what is going on in this story.

Green's art is growing on me even more, and I love his David Mack-esque cover.

Shuddertown #1

Written by Nick Spencer
Art by Adam Geen

I pre-ordered this series based on the strength of Spencer's other current title, Forgetless, which I have been enjoying quite a bit. The two series have nothing in common beyond the author's name, but I am quite glad I picked up this comic. It's really quite good.

The first issue doesn't give us much. We figure out that the main character, police Lieutenant Isaac Harrison, who has recently been shot on the job, is in a bad place. He's got a group of murders that he doesn't know how to solve - in each case, the DNA on the scene identifies the killer as being someone already known to be dead. His closest cop friend is not willing to help him transfer into vice. There's some unexplained stuff with some pills. So basically, things do look pretty bad.

This on its own is enough of a premise for a pretty decent cop comic, but Spencer really draws me in through the running narrative we get from Harrison. It's basically an essay on lying, and how to be an effectual one. It makes me question if anything we are seeing is accurate or true, and calls out for repeated readings.

The art, by Green, works here. It's got an Alex Maleev/Michael Gaydos kind of thing going on, which I like. I'm excited about this title, and looking forward to more.