Graphic Novel Review – The Fade Out (Act One)

At the end of December, 2017 when I was setting my Goodreads challenge, I also set myself the challenge of reading more diversely with respect to genres.  My go-to genre is mystery/thriller, however, I also read a lot of literary fiction (including historical fiction) and some non-fiction.  Last year I branched out to include steam-punk and some classics.  This year I wanted to stretch even further and so I have branched out into graphic novels.

First, I have to say that I don’t have much interest in reading super-hero comics/graphic novels, however, I have found some sub-genres within the graphic novel sphere including mystery and memoirs.  A recent article on mystery graphic novels caught my attention and I picked one to give it a try – The Fade Out (Act One) by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips with colors by Elizabeth Breitweiser.

This novel is set in 1948 Hollywood.  A “noir film” is being made and we hear this story from the point of view of Charlie Parish, the screenwriter.  The star of the film is found murdered and so the story begins.  I really enjoyed the art and the colors that were used in the novel.  I am not a fan of black and white drawings and so the colored drawings really worked for me.  At the beginning of the book, there is a listing of each character and what their role in the story is which I found very helpful in order to follow along as there are quite a number of characters.  Also, CLARK GABLE was in the book!! (albeit, a very small part).

There are three acts to this book and I will definitely be reading the remainder of this series.  Very enjoyable!