Hard Case Crime/Titan Comics 2017
Based on the Novel by Stieg Larsson
Written by Sylvain Runberg
Illustrated by Manuel Carot Gonzales
Lettered by Phillipe Glogowski
Translated by Rachel Zerner
After Titan released the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo I did go out and find that one and this one at a half-priced books sale. I am thrilled that Titan isn’t wasting any time in putting out this series. Sometimes we have to wait six months or more to get a sequel arc to a story and that this is here already yeah couldn’t be any happier. Also that Sylvain is doing both the adaptations is fantastic and extremely impressive to me i’m thinking that all this was done a while ago so that it would done and ready for publishing. If that’s the case then I think more shoud take that example and make sure things are not going to be late because unforseen circumstances.
Since these are on my reading list and I haven’t gotten to them yet this is my first exposure to this book. I am here to tell you that Lisbeth has had one incredibly effed up life so far. I mean seeing her background being exposed amidst the current expose that Bloomkvist and his magazine are working on, for the corralation of the two you need to read the story or the books. I have to say that Steig does a freakin number on the human pysche here with the subject matter. I mean wow and here I thought the first book was darker that’s absolutely nothing compared to this one.
I’m super impressed with the pacing and structure of the way this story is being told. The way this is paced and how much information and story is being told here is astounding. I read this and I got news for ya, I was so engrossed in the story and what was happening I totally blanked on the fact that this is a double sized issue. I mean no wonder it contained so much but you read it and you just keep going cause it’s gripping, compelling and you are so into it you have no idea you just read like sixty something pages of comic.
Manuel does some extremely wonderful work on the interiors here. I like that this is a close match to the original story in how I see it. The way the layouts are used on the page are fantastic with their angles and perspective. The attention to detail here is superb to see as are the utilisation of backgrounds as combined they help to really tell the bigger picture allowing the reader to get into the right mindset that the story calls for. There is some powerful work here and while it’s dark and disturbing it’s all done with this panache that brings the darkness out but doesn’t overwhelm the reader its a find line balancing act.
I like that a year has passed the events of the last issue of the previous arc. It’s a long time for Lisbeth to be gone after misinterpreting what she saw. Still it’s nice to see that she’s been keeping an eye out at home from the things she’s done. Most noticeably to her current guardian as he’s a scumbag who used her for sex under penalty of being re-incarcerated at the mental health clinic. While it’s not too ironic that the subject matter for this arc hits incredibly close to home what with her sexual abuse, and downright abuse from her father, that shaped her into the person she currently is.
The characterisation here is utterly phenomenal. I love how the story itself is used to reveal more about Lisbeth than we could have hoped for. It amazes me, in a good way, that this story can be told so fully and completely in this manner. I get that the subject matter of a story should influence the main characters in some way shape or form but I could never have anticipated something along these lines. I can’t remember the last time everything was woven so tightly together that I couldn’t tell where the story was different from the characterisation.
Titan has been around for a bit now and I get excited time and again to see what new properties and books they keep bringing out. These new collaborations with Hard Case Crime continue to bring some of the most stellar and complex storytelling on shelves today.