Jeff Lemire is an endless source of intriguing and complex stories. Reading Gideon Falls #1, his newest book from Image Comics, I couldn’t help but feel he and I have been inspired by many of the same things. We both have a penchant to dive immediately into the biggest questions that we all face as humans. In this first issue, we see religion, order, chaos, and madness all wrapped into what appears to be a dark, subversive mystery that seems to revolve around a place that may or may not exist. Gideon Falls inhabit that esoteric place that David Lynch finds himself.

There are two parallel stories that meet, if not physically, then thematically, by the end of issue one. A priest, Father Fred Wilfred, is sent by his higher-ups to a small town called Gideon Falls, where the previous priest died under mysterious circumstances. At the same time, in the city, a strange man collects random garbage, swearing to his therapist that they all point to something bigger that is going to happen. Really intriguing stories that, although very different, are brought together not just by crafty storytelling, but also through incredibly intelligent layouts and visual schemes. Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino have created connections not just through dialogue and story but in how the panels from page to page mirror or juxtapose each other.  They aren’t just following action from panel to panel, but themes. And with colorist rockstar Dave Stewart on the book, you know it’s going to look freaking gorgeous. I have gotten to a point in which I can look at a comic and know Stewart has colored it. He manages to create this hyper-realistic world in which the creepy and dark elements play that much creepier because it feels that much more real.

I love issue one of this book. It’s not only everything that I love in a story, but everything I’m drawn to create as an artist. I’m going to stick around; join me.

Creative Team: Jeff Lemire (story), Andrea Sorrentino (art), Dave Stewart (colors), Steve Wands (letters)
Publisher: Image Comics
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