A brand-new ongoing series from the acclaimed bestselling creative team of Old Man Logan and Green Arrow! The lives of a reclusive young man obsessed with a conspiracy in the city’s trash, and a washed-up Catholic priest arriving in a small town full of dark secrets, become intertwined around the mysterious legend of The Black Barn, an otherworldly building that is alleged to have appeared in both the city and the small town, throughout history, bringing death and madness in its wake. Rural mystery and urban horror collide in this character-driven meditation on obsession, mental illness, and faith.
Librarian note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Jeff Lemire is a New York Times bestselling and award winning author, and creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Underwater Welder, Trillium, Plutona, Black Hammer, Descender, Royal City, and Gideon Falls. His upcoming projects include a host of series and original graphic novels, including the fantasy series Ascender with Dustin Nguyen.
So this was okay! I didn’t hook me quite enough to want to read it monthly. I might go digital or trade wait on this one, because it probably will get really good when it gets going given the creators working on it.
Hin und wieder kommt es vor, dass ich eine neue Comic-Serie beginne und das Gefühl habe, bei der Entstehung von etwas Großem dabei zu sein. Später, wenn die Paperbacks herauskommen, ist zumindest ein Teil der Geschichte schon abgeschlossen und man hat eine Vorstellung davon, worauf man sich einlässt. Anders zu Beginn einer neuen Reihe, wie hier bei Heft #1 von Gideon Falls. W0hin die Reise geht, ist noch völlig unklar, aber dass hier eine ganz besondere Geschichte ihren Anfang nimmt, diesen Eindruck habe ich unbedingt. Da ist ein Mann, der offenbar unter der (Wahn?)Vorstellung leidet, er könne im Müll der Stadt Spuren eines geheimen Plans finden, ob göttlicher oder teuflischer Natur, wer weiß. Ein zweiter Mann, ein Pastor, wird gegen seinen Wunsch in das Kaff Gideon Falls entsandt, wo der vorherige Pastor (Vater Tom) verstorben ist. Oder etwa nicht? Zwischen diesen beiden Männern scheint es eine Beziehung zu geben, die sich zunächst nur in einigen gespiegelten Panels andeutet:
Ab dem ersten Panel geling es Jeff Lemire und Andrea Sorrentino, eine ganz eigene Stimmung zu schaffen, die uns in eine Welt versetzt, in der die Dinge möglicherweise etwas ganz anderes sind, als sie scheinen. Ich liebe Mystery, wenn sie gut gemacht ist. Gideon Falls beginnt hervorragend! Zwei Männer, die eine Bestimmung im mythischen Sinne des Wortes haben könnten. Man darf sehr gespannt sein, was sie zusammenführen wird und ob sie Protagonisten oder Antagonisten werden.
Das Kreativ-Team Jeff Lemire und Andrea Sorrentino kennt sich schon lange. Die beiden haben für DC einen der beliebtesten Green Arrow-Runs gemacht, danach für Marvel den Logan-Run. Im Nachwort beschreibt Lemire, wie er schon während der Bindung an die großen Kompanien den Wunsch hatte, zusammen mit Sorrentino etwas eigenes zu machen. Dabei hatte Lemire bereits den Müllsammler und den Pastor als Protagonisten im Kopf. Diese beiden Figuren, so schildert er, begleiten ihn bereits seit seinen frühen Jahren, als er begann, Film zu studieren. Nun wird endlich ihre Geschichte erzählt, in Gideon Falls. Eine neue Reihe, die ich unbedingt weiter verfolgen werde.
A man in his late twenties/early thirties, a reverend, and a town. I may have very high hopes for Jeff Lemire's Gideon Falls (he's Jeff Lemire after all), but this pilot issue felt really like Kirkman's Outcast. I hope that such a comparison becomes trivial in the long run because Gideon Falls #1 is a really, really strong start for a horror series.
It is very interesting to read Lemire horror story. Having read a couple of his books such as Trillium, After Death, Animal Man, and his New52 Green Arrow run, I can already say that I am a huge fan, he's up there in my list of favorite "present day" writers together with Scott Snyder, Geoff Johns and Rick Remender (which is different from an all-time best list which includes Moore and Gaiman). AFAIK, this is his first take on a horror story. I am quite excited to see his trademark elements of sadness from loss and the yearning to belong to a family used in this genre.
Gideon Falls #1 have planted all the horror seeds correctly. It does not reveal. It does not jumpscare its readers (actually I've been meaning to see an effective jumpscare in comics). The evil creeps in, slowly and methodically, but at the same time it only tells you that there is a lurking evil. The psychological paranoia and claustrophobia are also there. Thanks to Sorrentino's magnificent use of black and whites and amazing panel constructions, the issue reeks with unseen darkness and demonic presence.
This is an amazing start ladies and gentlemen. I just hope the creative team follows through with such level of quality horror literature.
Gideon falls: schizo, priest, sheriff and psychologist team up in a small town to figure out what's going on with bug-satan and his small multiversal barn.
This is such a strange story...I’m intrigued to find out more but I’m not loving the art style...it kinda adds to the atmosphere but I found some panels harder to sieve through what was happening. I might continue the series...will have to see. 😬
For the longest time I wasn't interested in graphic novels, superheroes don't do it for me and the twee comix that I'd associated with zine fares struck me as blah. But that seems more like a problem of exposure than of format. Luckily today, at work, someone had returned this and its cover of urban birdseye pareidolia grabbed me. I really enjoyed this horror comic about a depressed priest getting tangled up in a small town's strangeness (there's a hint of Twin Peaks everywhere because we have never truly left the black lodge) as well as a young man's story regarding his obsessive search through garbage and his therapist's decision (albeit unethical) to help him. What struck me here tho, is the art of this book. Some stuff reminded me of the Cage, Junji Ito, and Shintaro Kago, in a synthesis that felt wholly its own. The use of stark reds that offset the titular Black Barn were striking. We got themes of belief, of searching, of making meaning of your shit. It's not that deep, but dang if I want more.
Disorienting. Beautifully so. Lemire opens a door on a world that's our own yet not and we see it through two different pairs of eyes in two different understandings. There is the type of darker plots that feel tacked on, brooding, emo teen angst that makes more mature themed comics seem stale or even cliche. Luckily Gideon Falls reverses that. There is no push from the creator to influence the reader in one way or another: You simply read and experience and go along for the ride. The story is perfectly paced with the narrative's flow just right to get that almost- stream -of- consciousness -but -not -quite uneasiness.
I'll be snatching up the next issues as fast as I can. Comixology to the rescue.
Brilliant first issue. I liked it as much as Infidel, it's creepy, thrilling and that art, oh. Perfection. Lemire always knows how to make me fuck on everything else and just read and read and read..
I was incredibly excited to hear that Lemire and Sorrentino were reuniting for work on a completely original series--and my wait was not in vain. Indeed, this is the first series ever I have gone out of my way to read in single issues, and having read #1, I feel I made the right choice.
In "Gideon Falls" Lemire introduces us to the story of two men, both weary and searching for something more, both struggling with the realities of their lives--and somehow, both connected to a dark threat that hangs just out of sight.
Opening with the inverted image of a man rifling through a pile of garbage, Lemire and Sorrentino immediately set the tone of the story--proving yet again their mastery of the medium. Employing art, text, and silence, each page conveys a quiet menace that both unsettles and draws the reader deeper in.
The narrative unfolds in uncertain threads of quiet disrupted by occasional moments of horror, carried by the desperation of the two men at the center of the events. Lemire brings the reader alongside these characters to feel their struggles and see the world as they do. Sorrentino's art is the perfect accompaniment, simultaneously conveying the gritty, detailed world and the wild uncertainty surrounding and even invading these characters' lives. Completing the effect, Stewart's reserved colors, and the input of the rest of the creative team work in perfect unity to create the comic's final effect.
Faith and illness, certainty and doubt, the natural and the supernatural, truth and fantasy--"Gideon Falls" blurs the lines in creation of a gripping horror-mystery that displays some of the greatest creators in comics at the top of their form. Issue 1 is a bold start to a new series, and I await the next chapter with great expectation.
Jeff Lemire has done it again...Andrea Sorrentino and Dave Stewart have created something truely Amazing here. This book grabs you from the beginning with its story and haunting visuals. This is highly recommended reading and I’m looking forward to the next issues.
You probably didn’t think that one of the best books you’d read this year would be about a mysterious small-town, supernatural impossibilities and obscurity surrounding organised religion. Yeah, I’ll tell you right now that we’re not talking about something conjured up by the almighty Stephen King, but rather a book that’s put together by two comic book luminaries at Image Comics.
Gideon Falls has several of King’s tried and tested tropes like the ones I’ve just mentioned, but the list of reasons you should read this book doesn’t end there. Even the chapter title ‘The Speed of Pain,’ mirrors that of a Marilyn Manson song from 1998, which makes you wonder what other creepy parallels await readers in the coming issues. What else can you say about a comic that’s first panel shows the protagonist upside down? Metaphors much? This is the mark of elevated comic book writing, which is no surprise when you consider mighty Jeff Lemire buddied up with the phenomenal Andrea Sorrentino to put this book together.
Having done this comic blog for a while now, I’ve got enough experience to say that one of the best ways to gauge an artist’s prowess is to choose a featured image to go alongside text, and with this issue I was pretty spoiled for choice. Andrea Sorrentino is just a tour de force of talent and makes you really want to slow down and look at each panel, admire their arrangements and think about the placement of lines and curves that he opted for. Dave Stewart’s colours are used to optimal effect, adding sombre and engaging tone to an already eerie and unsettling story.
Lemire and Sorrentino’s time together producing the Old Man Logan series has given these guys a sense of familiarity with each other’s work style, to the benefit of themselves and readers alike. Like any great musician, Lemiere gives his colleague lots of room to showcase his talents, in a way that allows the unit to produce something truly beautiful. All those uncaptioned panels and lack of dialogue seem the ideal choice when you stop and look at that artwork, and maybe other comic producers would better themselves by emulating these kinds of choices if their stories permit them to do so.
Meanwhile, Lemire’s love letter at the end of the issue throws a lot of light onto the genesis of the series, which could also bring a sense of appeal to readers. I think it’d be a safe bet to say that I wasn’t the only one who dived right into that post-comic section to hunt down more clues about the murky, cryptic story that is Gideon Falls.
Volume 1 of this series made several "Best of the Year/Decade" lists, and while it's way too early for me to say whether or not I agree, I am intrigued.
Lemire/Sorrentino are generally an immediate 5 stars from me. And I think having the Director's Cut of the first issue - which has the full script in the back - was a huge help here, because the very sketchy nature of the panels makes it a bit challenging to know what you're looking at, at first, anyway. So for that I'm going with 4 stars, but I see it heading north once I'm in deeper. And the way issue #1 ends leaves me no choice: I will absolutely be reading the rest.
The introduction to this world is simple: In a small town called Gideon Falls, the local priest has died under unsavoury circumstances, and Father Fred, the man sent to replace him, is weirded out by his new surroundings. Simultaneously, elsewhere, there's a former inmate of a psychiatric hospital named Norton who is exploring the existence of evil and is coming dangerously close to being committed again by his therapist. Until the last page we have no idea how these two things are connected, and even then we're left with a big "CONTINUED!!" in the lower right corner of the final panel. Obviously we (or at least I) must forge ahead because what the hell is going on here??
It's my last book of my 2019 challenge and my last review of the decade - I'm happy to go out on a high note and to be looking forward to reading more of this post haste!
To all of my Goodreads friends: HAPPY NEW YEAR, and thanks for being a part of my life for the last several years! May you all start 2020 with a book you love laying in your laps. <3
I really don’t know what to think of this first issue of Gideon Falls, becase I have no idea whats going on. Or well, to be fair I do know, that I like it…a lot!
This story is strange to say the least, but in a good way. We’re following two different stories, for now there is no indication of timeline, on one hand there is this man, clearly not all too well, obsessing over and collecting city trash, and then there is an catholic priest, with possible a shady history…and then there is The Black Barn (what the hell that is)…. I love a good horror story, and although so far there really isn’t any horror, you can just feel it, it’s there under the surface… love it!
Gideon Fall is everything I like about comic when the creators take full advantage of the medium; one picture over two pages, lots of small pictures, different shapes and so on, that give the story some extra push. No page is the same! The color is quite dark, lots of gray/black-ish, mixed with red and then blinding white, all depending on what’s going on. All and all, a great start that leaves you wanting more!
Much as I like Harrow's County, this might just be my new favorite Horror comic. Slap it between Locke and Key and Harrow's County. If Lock and Key is the best, then this is gonna serve me well. I talk about pacing a lot when discussing comics, because what we decide to place in the next panel is very important to my personal reading experience. What I am getting at is that Gideon Falls has excellent pacing and a really intriguing premise. And by intriguing I mean mysterious. Because I don't totally know what's going on here. I like it. But I don't know a lick of ways to describe it to someone new.
There's two characters. A priest and a... a guy with some issues. And they both be seeing stuff. And evil might be afoot. Whatever it is it has bridged them together in some weird way.
Nightmarish and creepy. I was unnerved at times. Nothing shit your pants scary. But definitely unnerving.
There is much about this that I like, but this first issue, at least, is so dark and drab that I don't want to spend my time reading it. And nothing in the first issue grabbed me and made me have to read more. That fits with my impression of Lemire: I think his work is always of high quality, but I think much of his work doesn't match up with my personal taste. When it does match, I really enjoy it; when it doesn't, it is usually so far from my taste that reading it is very uncomfortable. This isn't that far. If I saw a TPB in a comic shop, I might flip through it; if I saw it in a library, I might borrow it. But even then, I'm not sure if I would get through it.
Now, I tend to hate issue #1 of anything, so it might be unfair for me to judge. But… that's the impression I have of it. Not bad, but likely not for me.
In an unsurprising turn of events I absolutely loved this and need to get my grubby little hands on the trade immediately. It is truly Jeff Lemire's world and we are all living in it. Going into it I was hyped (because need I say it again, it's Jeff Lemire) and I absolutely loved how dark and sinister this issue was. At first I was a little turned off by the art style, but as the two men's stories started to interweave I was completely zoned into what was happening and didn't care anymore. I love the ideas of a true evil, finding clues in trash, a black barn, a mysterious murder, and a ghost! I honestly don't know if it is possible to get any better than that, especially for a first issue.
This is a quiet, creeping horror. Lemire, at the end, writes that when he teamed up with Sorrentino, the two clicked. That is 100% proven in what this team has created.
The art is precise. The panels and pacing are perfect for doling out the story like a visually stunning sieve. There are elements of Dark Tower and Lovecraft folded into here, but if this truly was bred over decades, I believe we'll see something wholly original spawn from what's seeded. I've a lot of trust in this comic to disturb me.
Great story. Lemire provides enough detail for this to not be maddeningly elusive, but there’s plenty of mystery to intrigue. The excellent, stylistic art adds immensely to the story. Upside down images suggest a parallel story, and there are other creative and meaningful images such as Norton rotating in his chair to show a descent into inner despair. I’m excited for this one.
Dark and cool, reminds me of preacher. I have just started this run and am definitely going to continue reading the next few issues in the set as it did peak my interest but as of now I give it four stars for the artwork, setting and interesting storyline. I might get into it more as the story develops!
I'm really impressed with this series so far. Great mystery, and very creative page layouts. I'm not a huge fan of the overly realistic character designs. I would have liked something a bit more abstract considering the story's content (it would have been great if Lemire had illustrated this as well). But overall, I'm excited to move on to volume 2.
This was a really interesting introduction. We meet a character who is piecing together a mystery that no one else can see, hidden in the trash of a city. Then we meet another character, a priest who arrives in a small town. Both become intertwined with a mysterious place that is both creepy and quite possibly haunted. I really liked the art in this, and the spooky undertones.
Um mistério incrível e criativo se inicia. É um gibi completamente criativo e louco, bem original e diferente. Eu acho que nunca li e nunca vou ler algo com esse tom. Muito curioso pra ver como essa trama de desenrola e pra onde vai. A arte é espetacular também.
Certainly a premise I've never seen before and follows two protagonist, both of whom are affected by the Black Barn. 4-stars for story line. Did not like the graphics and it's honestly a huge detraction for me. I won't be continuing the series because of it.
I received volume 2 and 3 for Christmas, but the story is a little complex and convoluted, so I wanted to reread volume 1. I enjoyed it, although I can also see that it may go any number of bad directions in future volumes.