Black Crown HQ/IDW Publishing 2018
Written by David & Maria Lapham
Illustrated by David Lapham
A handsome drifter murders his way through the midwest while hiding in plain sight as a travel blogger, leaving families in shreds and body bags in his wake. Ricky Toledo was fifteen when she fell hard for “Dante”—until he killed her mother and got her father sent to prison for it. It’s three years later, and Ricky will stop at nothing to get revenge. Lodger is a dark, grimy, psychological thriller—a game of cat and mouse between a broken young woman and a serial killer—and like all the best crime noir… a twisted love story.
It took me a while to “get” what was going on here. That is pretty amazing in and of itself since I consider myself an avid reader. So that this was able to stump me with what I was reading and made sit back and actually think and contemplate what was going on well that’s one of the myriad of reasons by David Lapham is high on my list of must read creators. The sheer fact that you have to use your brain here instead of just breezing through it excites me.
So the way that the opening brings us into the story is beautifully done. I had no idea who it was doing the narration but you get the sense they are a weary traveller. What we read and what we see here is idyllic in that it feels like some small town that could be Painswick or Mayberry. It has this homey comfortable feel that more than likely belies what goes on behind closed doors. Regardless it is one of those openings that deceives the reader for what is about to follow and that this can be done by these two is outstanding stuff.
Then the next thing we see is something that is totally out of left field, hence unexpected. Some might call it an act of mercy others murder but that’s not really for anyone to decide but those involved. It is also when we finally meet Ricky for the first time as she enters this hamlet with something of a jaded eye. She is much younger than one would expect her to be and to be that young and to be that jaded, hurt and determined almost breaks my heart. However on the flip side of all that it certainly makes the reader, me in this instance, want to know how and who made her this way and it’s the kind of curiosity killed the cat kind of feeling. So yeah so expertly done.
I love seeing David’s interior artwork. This is a far cry from Ferals, The Strain, or even Young Liars but it still has so much of that warmth and skill that he possesses. The black and white angle surprised me but I will wholeheartedly admit that I love it and while it’s harder to hide mistakes this way it also showcases just how stinkin talented he is. That he doesn’t shy away from backgrounds being utilised as they are and fills with them with the same amount of attention to detail that the foreground has is sensational. The linework is just gorgeous and the utilisation of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off his eye for storytelling. That he and his wife write this and he illustrates it means everything we see is what is intended for the reader to get that maximum experience.
The way that this is structured so that the ebb & flow it creates is done in such a way that your eyes widen and that feeling of not knowing what may come next is thrilling. The characterisation is phenomenal to see and it makes me want to read more I want to learn about Ricky and the boy she’s chasing using the name Ricky. This just reaffirms why the Lapham’s are among the comic book elite this is fascinating in ways you have to read to understand, so are you?