Gideon Falls, Vol. 5: Wicked Worlds

Gideon Falls

by Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino (Artist), Dave Stewart (Artist)

After the mind-bending destruction of the Black Barn, our heroes find themselves spread across the multiverse of Gideon Falls that it contained within! While Angie struggles to survive in a 1984 version, Clara is alone in an old west version and Father Fred is a man out of place in the cyberpunk Gideon Falls. And where Norton landed is anyone's guess... And while these worlds all seem far apart, the Laughing Man is always closer than you think!

Collects GIDEON FALLS #22-26

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Horror, Fiction, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

120 pages, Paperback

First published November 25, 2020

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

One more volume to go.
At this point, I'm pretty sure that Jeff is going to go full-Lemire with this ending and I'm going to be disappointed.
He didn't draw this one, though, so I can at least take heart in the fact that no matter how weird the ending is, at least I didn't have to subject my eyeballs to his squiggly art.



Hopefully, there will be some sort of resolution to the Black Barn and all of the multiple Gideon Falls. Daniel/Norton seems to be coming closer to whatever it is that he is supposed to face down at The Center of it all, and his allies are gathering together to help him.



You can probably tell I'm not 100% convinced that Lemire won't shit the bed in the end, but it is a visually lovely ride regardless.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

“This is the end. . . this is the end. . .”

The Bishop: “In the end there is only the center.”
Angela: “Uh, what the hell does that mean?!”
(Me: Good question!)

“This can’t be Gideon Falls.”
“It is. Just not the one you came from,”
“What in the hell is that supposed to mean?!”
“Honestly, Molly, I barely understand any of this myself. . .”.
(Me: Exactly.)

So, yeah, post barn burning down in Volume 4, volume 5 now features multiple storylines in multiple Gideon Falls! One is like 1984, one is in the western US, one is sort of s cyberpunk site. But why??!! So a very controlled slow burn story we were curious about, drawn in exquisite fashion and colored amazingly. is now going crazy, narratively and visually.

Yes, the wheels are coming off around this curve, Jeff, and even your characters are flying through the air, thrown to the wind. Things are falling apart, the center cannot hold, going all Chicken Little on us, as the world is going to end:

“. . . the multiverse is collapsing in on itself now:”
Angela: “What does all this mean? I’m so confused!”
(Me: I feel ya, Angela!)

But apparently not quite yet, we have to stretch things out a bit, find The Five Travelers, stop Norton Sinclair from becoming The Permanent Host for the evil darkside, and something else to stop The Madness, led by The Smiling Man.

So I'm confused and a little annoyed, not liking this as much as the last volume, nor the first four volumes, but I have to admit it's still got possibilities for greatness. Maybe. In this once again visually arresting volume of Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino’s Gideon Falls comics horror series, we get a little more of a glimpse into the dark nature of the place, where the barn was portal at what appears to be the thinnest membrane in the world between the dark and the light, between the world we live in and their version of Stranger Things’s The Upside Down. And for some reason All Hell Breaks Loose.

It’s dramatic horror opera, but what will it all add up to? It’s looking to me like a five-star art spectacular show about what is emerging to be an out-of-control, two-star story, but my 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars aggregate score reflects my hope that it rescues itself and ends in some satisfying way. I’m just not sure what it is all about beyond Good Versus Evil.

[Sem · Rating 2 out of 5]

I still find this series a delight to look at but it's become apparent that the core idea is just 'all-consuming evil against hapless randos' and not much is really important about all the fluff Lemire puts on top. It's nice fluff, mind you, but I'm ready for that final issue to arrive.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Five have been scattered across the multiverse of Gideon Falls just as it all begins to collapse. The Laughing Man is in constant pursuit of all of them. The various worlds are interesting but I can't help but feel this is some filler before the ending.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

2025 Review: This is for sure Lemire's most crazy, twisty turny, storyline and I'm here for it. Fun horror visuals, crazy villain, good cast of characters. Overall just fun.

2020 Review: This series is just so fucking weird, and I kind of love it?

This time we have the priest in the future as he tries to find his answers but of course that's never easy, and leads to some actually funny situations. Then we got our gun slinging cop dealing with the crazies on the farm. Last but not least we get a LITTLE bit of what's happening with Daniel.

While not AS good as the last volume this is still great. I don't know how this series will end but I'm so excited to read more. A 4 out of 5.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, the C4 didn’t help. All it did was help destroy the Pentoculus, splinter all the multiverse Gideon Falls, and unleash the Smiling Man on all the alternate worlds. Everybody is also scattered: Father Fred is stuck in a cyberpunk GF, Clara is stuck in an Old West GF, and Angela is stuck in an Orwellian “1984”-ish GF. The Bishop has turned, sadly. The only hope lies in a new Pentoculus created by the new Ploughmen.

I realize none of that made sense to anyone who hasn’t been reading this series. Sorry.

[JorgeOrts · Rating 5 out of 5]

El mejor volumen de la serie. En lo que respecta a las ilustraciones, a pesar de haber recibido algunas críticas, ha sido una grata sorpresa que hayan experimentado de una forma tan transgresora, ahora se entiende mejor porque ha sido tan bien considerada la colección. En cuanto a la historia, finalmente comprendí el sentido detrás de la baza de los distintos mundos, hasta el momento me parecía algo ya muy exprimido en novelas, películas y, especialmente, cómics. Espero que mantengan el nivel en la última entrega.

[Václav · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.0 of 5 for nice horror series with an excellent story, underperforming art and somehow unsatisfying ending)
I must appreciate the originality of the story and the quality of the storytelling. This is a major upside of this series. The quality of the horror aspect is also good. Omnipotent evil works usually best for the comics medium, but making horror series long is always at risk to just dilute the fright, which Lemire fights very well. 27 issues is a long run, so considering that Lemire did a great job. On the opposite, I never got used to Sorrentino's art. If the panel design is solely him, kudos for that, but besides that, the art itself is quite a letdown for me.
But still, it is comics horror series worth trying.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read the last volume, so I was concerned that I would be lost. I needn't have bothered. Almost the entire book is spent explaining what has come before, finally putting the pieces together while running our disparate characters through various gauntlets. And it is all WEIRD. Lemire's take on the infinite earths is gleefully dark and twisted. And while this volume puts the pieces together, it doesn't manage to add a whole lot. It's a brief read, and the art is the real star in this volume, with some standout double-page spreads and a good grasp of style and color timing to identify the various realms the characters are moving through.
So I'm glad I came back to this volume, but it doesn't feel like there was a whole lot here. It is just setting the pieces for the final volume, I assume.

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story progresses at mind-numbing speed as each key character finds themselves in a unique universe and has to find a way back to their time to try and stop the mysterious Laughing Man. The artwork in this volume continues to be phenomenal and further plays on the insane narrative and the crossover of them. Jeff Lemire is really outdoing himself with this series so far!

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/

[Benji Glaab · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's like a horrific trip into the multiverse.

Sarantino could make an art installation out of this volume it's unreal.

I'm excited to see what's next from some of my favourite creators.

[Ona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great. It's hard to find good horror these days.

[Roman Zarichnyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

П'ятий том мальопису «Gideon Falls» хоч і трохи гірший в сюжетному плані для мене у порівняння із четвертим, але мені чомусь здається, що Джефф Лемір рухається кудись не туди.

Особисто мені хочеться більш локальної історії, яка б крутилася навколо ось цього таємничого сараю. Але Лемір вирішує із кожним томом розвивати комікс у більш глобальному руслі. Прям дуже глобальному. Не хочу просто спойлерити, бо надіюся, що колись таки цей мальопис вийде українською мовою. Але він, таке враження, іде шляхом десятки інших сюжетів.

Щодо малюнку, то стиль і якість малюнку Андреа Соррентіно є тому самому рівні. Єдине, що можу відмітити — це те, що вже не було таких захопливих розворотів, які можна було побачити у перших арках. Чи просто я уже звик до його малюнку. Хто зна, де криється правда.

Останній том буде завершальний, готуюся...

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This shit is nuts.

All our characters take a trippy foray into the multiverse after they all are forced to fend for themselves, spread out over multiple realities, trying to get back home. The creators feel like they're really let off the leash here and they let their imagination run even wilder than ever before!

[Kate Victoria RescueandReading · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this issue fascinating- finally we get to see some alternate versions of Gideon Falls more in depth.

I wish we had more time with each character though, before I knew it I was on the last page. It felt like nothing really progressed in terms of dealing with the entity at the centre, but hopefully in the next volume things are actually wrapped up.

One thing I don’t get is why some characters start wearing an N95 mask 24/7, when there’s no mention of any sort of virus or illness? It seems like in one of the realities the whole population just randomly wears them? At first I thought maybe it was a measure to stop the bugs from getting in, but now I’m not sure. Just seems so randomly unexplained.

[Valéria. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Som naozaj zvedavá na posledný zošit, ktorý má všetko uzatvoriť, lebo tento book bol viacmenej výplňový, ale furt strašne dobrý. Nevravím, že sa veci v ňom nika nepohli, ale podstane menej ako v predchádzajúcich. Nečudovala by som sa, keby napr. posledný zošit veci uzatvoril a zároveň nechal otvorené pre nejaké pokračovanie/vedlajší príbeh na to nadväzujúci. Lemire a Sorrentino sú skvelé duo a nádherne im to spolu šlape. 4,5/5

[Abbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series just continues to get creepy! I don’t know what to expect after to this volume. The art in this one is absolutely terrifying as always!

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once more into the dark and twisted world of the black barn universe. This book is more of a set up for the ending, which I believe is what's next in volume six. Volume five sees the protagonists dispersed to different wicked worlds following the destruction of the infamous barn...wild Wild West, authoritarian dystopia and Victorian cyberpunk. It's all very exciting, terrificaly written and as gorgeously rendered as ever, this book is a stunner. The story is fascinating and its interwoven so cleverly, but it's just an intermediate step on the road to something grand and I can't wait for volume six.

This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The insanity dial gets turned up to about fifteen in this final full arc of Gideon Falls. Our main characters are scattered to the winds across the multiverse, with multiple Gideon Fallses in play at once, and the Laughing Man on a collision course with them all.

Lemire and Sorrentino are pulling out all the stops; it's a little hard to keep up with everything in monthly format, but I expect reading this as a collection will make that a lot easier, and there's definitely a sense of finality about this arc. When Image announced that Gideon Falls was due to end in December I was surprised, but having read this arc, I can understand why now.

Stick the landing, guys. You can do it.

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than previous volumes, but the ubiquity now of the grinning man has made him/it a lot less scary (sometimes even plain funny).

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Acho que já falei aqui em outro review de Gideon Falls que essa série de Jeff Lemire e Andrea Sorrentino se parece muito com a série televisiva LOST. Existe um enorme buzz, discussões e teorias sobre o que está acontecendo e a narrativa vai, ao longo dos encadernados, se tornando mais complexa, imbricada e cheia de paralelos. Por um lado essa estratégia prende o leitor, por outro lado perde o leitor. Isso porque promete muito mais que entrega e os leitores que estiverem acompanhando até o final certamente aguardam um final satisfatório que explique todas as loucuras que os personagens passam. Claro, a arte de Andrea Sorrentino é sensacional, cria um ambiente propício ao horror gráfico, e a impressão que temos é que estamos nos afundando cada vez mais nesse terror. O problema é: como sair dali e do que é realmente feito esse horror? O leitor aguarda respostas e o próximo volume promete entregar. A estratégia deste volume foi interessante para dar uma barriga para a história. Veremos o que nos aguarda o encerramento da série.

[Etienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again Jeff Lemire delivers!! No surprise, I’m a huge fan of his works and Gideons Falls is one of his great series, like Sweet Tooth or Black Hammer. Darker indeed, but still the same vibes that he brings in his work that smell like greatness every time. I love it! You should read it!

[Terry Mcginnis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another brisk, mind-tripping chapter. Keep 'em coming!

[Kaitlyn (ktxx22) Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars… still nightmares fuel and still mildly muddled/confusing

[Carrie-Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I said 'oh shit' out loud about 5 times

[Davide Saladino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Siamo agli sgoccioli: il multiverso sta per collassare.
Un volume prettamente preparatorio per il gran finale, con dei disegni maestosi di Sorrentino.
Certe tavole sono dei veri e propri quadri che lasciano senza parole.

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cyberpunk universe alone deserves five stars. Jeff Lemire didn’t just settle for one interesting universe, he’s building so many intriguing worlds even if we get just the smallest taste of them. Ahhhhhh. The Lemire/Sorrentino duo continues to show up and show out.

[Kyle Dinges · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm just playing out the string on this one. I know this is well liked by critics and fans, but it's just never done it for me. I'm a huge fan of Lemire and this isn't anywhere near his best work. I like when he pairs with Sorrentino, but they've done better.

Mostly, nothing that happens in this series, and this volume in particular, strikes me as impactful or revelatory. There are a lot of moments that I recognize as supposing to be big plot reveals and I find myself either apathetic or unsure what's happening. In this volume especially, it feels like things are happening just to happen with no real point other than to make the story feel complex and sophisticated and give Sorrentino cool stuff to draw (which he does well).

Maybe I missed the boat at the start and haven't paid close enough attention to see the strings Lemire is bringing together, but I'm just not caring about them. That's generally not my reaction to Jeff Lemire books. I'll read the finale so that I can say I did and hope Lemire and Sorrentino move on to a project that's a little more up my alley.

[Chris Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just when I thought Jeff Lemire was hitting his stride, this bizarre, genre-busting volume comes out. The main characters have been scattered, one to an Orwellian future, another to the Wild West - but it is all Gideon Falls. With its parallel worlds, this is starting to remind me of Brian K Vaughan’s Paper Girls. This volume is fast-paced, filled with action scene after action scene as the Laughing Man chases after the heroes and turns people into smiling zombies. Creepy and fun, but growing increasingly nonsensical.

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

5

Gideon Falls may have revealed its central twist a little too early but it hasn't stop this title from being one of the best at the moment. Lemire manages to twist the narrative to put us in the direction of a final confrontation. This volume sets the pieces and I can only hope that Lemire will end this with the final volume. I still think this series is finishing too early but it's Lemire's book so he can do whatever he likes.