Review: Ruby Falls #1 (of 4)
Despite our sense of this world being made for us and only us, the fact is our towns all existed before we were twinkles in our parents eyes and they will no doubt be there long after we are gone. Take a look out of your window; that is your world. You are a part of it as much as previous actions are, especially as those actions serve to impact you in ways you may not realise.
Ruby Falls is such a place. For Lana, her world is centered around her mom, who runs the bar; her dad who is the town’s butcher, Blair and Queenie. Throw into the mix a Grandma suffering from dementia and a love of crime novels, Lana has a lot on her plate. It is during one of her visits with her Grandma that her life begins to get even more complicated. With her Grandma’s story about a possible murder and the cold-case of Betty Gallagher, is Lana nuts for putting two and two together and getting four? Apparently not, when the whole town seems to want nothing to do with the answer to the town’s old mystery.
Ann Nocenti has been in the comic book industry for decades. Much maligned after her run on Catwoman, as part of the also much maligned New 52 from DC, Nocenti may be trying to stay out of the superhero market for the time being. That’s fine, if she can continue to create interesting character driven stories such as this. In the setup, Nocenti gives us a precocious character in Lana, who lives a different type of life than her peers and family, neither wanting to work in either of the family businesses and waiting for Blair whilst the latter works at the local dance/strip bar; given these factors it is a tad surprising how comfortable her life is. The mystery that she may or may not have uncovered is the thing that is going to complicate things. Nocenti tries to hide upcoming “threats” in the dialogue of the characters, which at times is not quite needed, though I understand why as some readers may not notice the nuance in the slightly European comic strip style of artwork.
Flavia Biondi, an artist from Italy, provides the aforementioned pencils. Whilst some of the characters may have the same basic square jaw facial effect, a trait shared by some pretty popular big time artists (yes, I am looking at you Mark Bagley), there is something in this book that I haven’t seen in a while; big panels! Biondi looks to demonstrate her art without the need for the dreaded, for me at least, nine panel page. It’s an easy going style that defies the seriousness of some of the story content. Things do get a little cluttered and confusing with Grandma’s story, which I am hoping Biondi has used as a means to demonstrate her dementia. Biondi is complemented by Lee Loughridge on colors, who gives the book a bit of the sense of the hazy days and bug bites of summer. Finally, letterer Sal Cipriano keep things simple, font wise, despite some heavy dialogue filled pages. I will say that at times, the word balloons seem to have a lot of negative space in them, but maybe I am being over critical.
This book is another offering from the Berger Books imprint of Dark Horse Comics. For those expecting yet another horror book may not appreciate the diversity of Vertigo books under Berger Books editor Karen Berger’s stewardship. Maybe it’s that influence that has helped Nocenti deliver a resurgent book. What ever the reason, this book is off to an interesting start.
Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars
Overall – 4 Stars
Written by;Â Ann Nocenti
Art by Flavia Biondi
Colors by; Lee Loughridge
Letters by; Sal Cipriano
Published by; Berger Books / Dark Horse Comics
Author Profile
- I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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