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Aug 11, 2010 Vertigo Crime By Kyle Lemmon

It’s been a full year since Vertigo Crime launched, and if Fogtown is any indication, they’re still ironing out their experimental branch of noirish storytelling. Writer Andersen Gabrych (Detective Comics and Batman) is an obvious choice for creating a 1953-set, San Francisco tale revolving around a hard-nosed gumshoe named Frank Grissel, no bullshit dames, and a mystery involving slain prostitutes. (Side note: Wow, what a bad-ass name for a lead. Even love the punny last name.)

As one would surmise, Fogtown contains heaps of ink-black subject matter poking through the brume. There would seem to be lots of grit, dirt, and skeletons to unearth here. The reality is slightly off center from the promises made on the dust jacket. Brad Rader’s thick lines adequately mirror the hard-boiled narrative of angry screwing, infidelity, and alcohol abuse.

His cartoonish style worked well for Rainbow Brite, The Littles, The Real Ghostbusters, Alf, and The Simpsons. But just draining the primary colors from his palette won’t make his crime alley any more convincing. Rader acknowledges the influence of Russ Heath and EC Comics artists Jack Davis and Wally Wood in interviews. Some of that greasiness rises up to the top during Grissell’s many rendezvous with women.

Sure, Gabrych crosses over into genre parody one too many times, and his over-reliance on depictions of brutal sex is disconcerting; but Grissel’s through-line is saved by an interesting subplot involving Grissel’s closeted homosexuality. It’s a novel tweak to a crime story, especially one set in the repressive era of The Eisenhower Doctrine and McCarthyism.

It also pays off in the character development department. That’s especially true in regards to Grissell’s long-suffering secretary and sometimes live-in lover, Valentine. The panels she appears in are usually brisk in pacing and riddled with punchy dialogue.

If expanded further, this wily, interwoven characterization would have helped Rader’s bold, yet heavy-handed inking, or Gabrych’s one-note twist ending. Instead, readers are left with a just-OK noir comic, filled with plenty of drinkin’, smokin’, and fuckin’. (www.dccomics.com/vertigo)

Author rating: 5/10