#22 - Dept. H

[Ed]

This discussion is for Dept. H, Volume 1: Pressure.

[Ed]

I read this last night. The watercolor art reminds me very much of the work of Jeff Lemire, especially The Underwater Welder and A.D.: After Death. The story is quite different, though.

It starts as an underwater locked-room murder mystery. But it seems to be developing other themes. I'll be continuing with volumes 2 through 4. I hope that it has a definite end in volume 4 rather than simply ending.

[Andréa]

Ed wrote: "This discussion is for Dept. H, Volume 1: Pressure."

Thank you for creating the thread, Ed! My summer has been off to a rocky start and I haven't been able to keep on top of everything as much as I'd like.

I'm tacking on the usual intro info here...
If you're going to discuss anything that might be spoiler-y for those who haven't finished the book yet, please use the handy spoiler feature, which hides spoilers:
< spoiler > ... < / spoiler > (Remove the spaces to use.) The spoiler-y information goes in-between, and will be hidden until people click through to it.

[Andréa]

Ed wrote: "It starts as an underwater locked-room murder mystery. But it seems to be developing other themes. I'll be continuing with volumes 2 through 4. I hope that it has a definite end in volume 4 rather than simply ending."

I'm glad you like it enough to continue it! I, too, hope it has a definite end in volume 4... my biggest frustrations are ambiguous endings and series that never end.

[Russell]

I read through Dept. H Omnibus Volume 1 and I thought it was very similar to a survival action film. the back stories being cutaway's and the multiple different perspectives. I liked it well enough but it didn't draw me in enough that I felt much connection with the characters. < spoiler > I did enjoy the appearance of the Ghost Diver though, and the existence of sea spiders that act like parrots...that was a great addition to the creep levels of the story. < / spoiler >.

[Andréa]

Russell wrote: "I liked it well enough but it didn't draw me in enough that I felt much connection with the characters."

I feel like that's my response for about 50% of the books... but that also makes sense, since we're reading a much wider range of genres and styles in here than I would pick for myself.