The Creep by Jonathan Case, John Arcudi
My rating: 3/5 cats
i may have enjoyed this more if i hadn’t read it on the computer screen. there is something about graphic novels that demands a tactile appreciation. a holding onto and turning of pages, a scrutiny of the art and the shading of a line, even to an art-moron like me, who doesn’t know a chiaroscuro from an achromatic. (okay, i do, but is just example)
i have learned that reading it on a computer, squinting as the zoom-in feature causes the words to get a little blurred-together, is just not as immersive an experience as reading a book-in-hand.
and i didn’t even realize that our detective-hero had acromegaly until so many characters were responding to his appearance. i thought he just had an exaggerated noir-head.
so that’s my review of the experience of graphic-novel-on-ereader.
onto the book itself.
oxel karnhus is a sad and lonely private eye who left his job at aetna to strike out on his own once his disease began to seriously hit him, with its migraines and fatigue. he hunkers down to live the rest of his life with the small comforts of alcohol and prostitutes and braves the taunts of hooligans and the stares of children on a daily basis.
one day, he receives a letter from his old college flame telling him her teenage son has just killed himself, on the heels of his best friend doing the same. the local police do not see a mystery here, but a mother knows. and she wants oxel to figure out what really happened.
the answer is not one i saw coming, so it gets points for that. there are plenty of red herrings, and some pretty bleak commentaries on mental and physical disorders and the way we remember people in our minds vs. the reality and the ravages of time.
i loved the cover art—it has that haunting air that made me think this was going to be a supernatural tale in some way, plus arcudi’s track record suggested this would be the case. but no. it is just a straight-up detective story with a starkly realistic and depressing tone throughout.
so for noir-fans who like their graphic novels on the dark side, i would just say, wait until it comes out as something you can hold and appreciate, because i think it will be better that way.
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