Dark Horse Comics 2016
Written by Jeff Lemire
Illustrated by Dean Ormston
Coloured by Dave Stewart
Lettered by Todd Klein
The Golden Age heroes of Spiral City have been banished from existence. Now they pass the time in a quiet farming community, cut off from the world they once knew. ABRAHAM SLAM and BARBALIEN are making connections with the locals, but GOLDEN GAIL has been withdrawing deeper into her own misery. TALKY-WALKY has been trying to contact the outside world, with no luck so far. And who knows what the bizarre COL. WEIRD and the inscrutable MADAME DRAGONFLY think about their life on BLACK HAMMER FARM?
Madame Dragonfly takes center stage in this issue as we learn her origin and what she may have to do with the team being where they are! I adore the throwback to those old House of Mystery style comics in the opening here. The fact that Jeff uses this and fully embraces it to bring us this Dragonfly story really is so incredibly fantastic! There’s this whole creepy wonderful vibe going on here and it made my day!
The way that the past interconnects with the present is extremely well told. The fact that she has wooden house that seems to be the same in both universes shouldn’t go unnoticed either. Her characterisation here is superbly done I mean she’s both cryptic and aloof while coming across slightly menacing and evil. She’s this woman full of contradictions and they all seem to play off each other beautifully.
Dean’s interiors here are delightful. There’s something about the way he’s able to depict these characters that give them that much needed characterisation that words alone don’t give us. That we see these qualities that flicker across her face just enhances how utterly creepy she is. The use of page layouts through angles, perspective and the backgrounds Dean brings to this really captures the right mood, tone and feel.
I think these spotlight on the characters that just seem to weave their way through the ongoing story of them being trapped here show off Jeff’s ability as a writer. Also we’ve seen bits and pieces of the story between Barbie and Gail and now suddenly things are taking a turn that he didn’t see coming and one that she sees as a sort of betrayal before he can come out to her just adds more unexpectedness to the story.
Lucy Weber knew the heroes were still alive and we see her find them this issue in a most unusual way. What lies ahead for her now that she’s found them well I can’t wait to see because this issue reveals the most important clue!
The fact that this entire issue feels like a throwback homage to those horror comics of old just makes me want to dig them out and re-read them. This is hauntingly beautiful and masterfully done!