Dark Horse Comics 2017
Written by Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden
Illustrated by Patric Reynolds
Coloured by Dave Stewart
Lettered by Clem Robins
Occult detective Joe Golem continues to protect New York City from supernatural danger when he investigates a home that has become a hotbed of paranormal activity, but the real danger may be from the person he least suspects.
Time and time again this really is one of the best damn series on the stands today. Between Mignola and Golden you’ve got two of the best writers in the business working together to bring something extraordinary to life. The story itself, the setting, the characters and their motivations and characterisation all of it is at a level you just don’t see often enough. Both these men alone are a force to be reckoned with but together seriously wow it really honestly doesn’t get much better than this.
I love Joe he is one of the absolute best character creations in the last twenty years and yes I know I’m opening myself up for a lot of feedback on that one but I stand by my claim. If the story of how Mr. Church met Joe and got him to forget his origin has been told I haven’t read it, though I want to. Still he’s a man who only wishes to know his place in the world, where he comes from and at the core who he is and why. We all do soul searching it’s something every living human being will do at some point in their life the only difference Joe is a Golem.
As someone who is adopted understanding his struggle is all too easy. The writing, dialogue and characterisation here aptly demonstrate and help you understand how he thinks and feels. I do have one thing though, Golem’s are created by Rabbi’s that’s their mythology so why does Joe feel a connection and at home in a Church instead of a Synagogue? I guess we’ll learn as we go and I’m hoping that there’s so much more storytelling involved before all his little mysteries are solved.
Patric is someone who’s work I can never get tired of seeing. The linework can bold and daring, soft and subtle or scratchy and weathered and he can make it all fit in one panel and look as natural as the rising sun. His eye for storytelling using the page layouts and then the angles and perspective in the panels shows off just how creative his mind is. Also he’s not one to shy away from backgrounds and he puts just as much detail into those as anything else. With Dave’s expert colours the flooded city and it’s inhabitants look utter amazing.
I like that Joe’s dreams are memories of his past life and he doesn’t realise it. His trust and blind faith in Mr. Church is the one thing that’s keeping him from realising who he is. Though he now surrounds himself with friends and a lover he is still under Church’s thumb. The characterisation for that is exceptional to see too. The man is as manipulative and cunning as they come and he thinks that by keeping Joe the way he is they are doing good work. In many ways he’s sees what they do as a job of importance and he can justify his actions by those creatures they banish but underneath it all is a man who is vain, narcissistic and has what I call a Napoleon complex.
I love how the city is used in a way that’s as much a character in its own right. The water ways those houses with sunken levels and the need for boats to get around it all has this wonderful appeal to it that while coming from tragedy leaves behind wonder.
With a strong ebb & flow this book reads silky smooth. There really isn’t anything else I’ve been reading that I look forward to more than Joe Golem.