Wednesday, November 27, 2019

On the Coffee Table: The Fade Out, Act Two

Title: The Fade Out, Act Two
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Sean Phillips

Image result for fade out act two
via Amazon
The Brubaker/Phillips 1940s era film industry-based comic noir continues (see my thoughts on Act One here).  This is the second of three books, collecting issues 5-8 of the original series.  The murder mystery introduced in book one proceeds relatively slowly here in favor of much needed development for Charlie, our protagonist.  He falls in love with Maya, the blonde starlet who has risen to take the place of Valeria, the murder victim.  The portrayal of the naivety of new romance is quite convincing.  A blackmail subplot is emerging as well.

I'm waiting for the twist.  Charlie's suspicions have yet to move beyond the obvious and there has to be a twist at some point.  I'm looking forward to Act Three.

14 comments:

  1. Act two has a much "hotter" cover!

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  2. Unless what is obvious is obvious.
    Sometimes that is the twist.
    But I hope not.
    Because I hate figuring out the crime or the culprit at the beginning of the book and, then, reading several hundred pages of the detective being a dumbass.

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    Replies
    1. I'm optimistic. The "detective" in this story isn't much of one to begin with and his sleuthing is minimal. The story just kind of falls in his lap. But the story is good.

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