Every time I turn around, it seems, there's a new Jeff Lemire series. Nothing wrong with that. He seems to be the hot writer of the moment, and, so far, he’s doing a good job of keeping the momentum going.
Which brings us to Gideon Falls. There appear to be two main characters. Father Wilfred is newly appointed to the local Catholic Church. It's implied that his predecessor died, or at least disappeared, but we're never told the exact circumstances, and it eventually becomes clear that Wilfred’s superior may know more about the situation than he’s letting on.
The other main character is Norton, currently in therapy, and has been committed at least once in the recent past. He’s obsessed with digging through trash, looking for specific objects that call to him, pieces of a terrifying building: the Black Barn.
The Black Barn is what ties everything together. It's sometimes there, sometimes not. Disappearances, murders, evil, all seem to tie into it, going back all the way to the 1700’s. We do get a glimpse of the interior in this volume, and it seems that Lemire has a very strange tale indeed waiting for us. Definitely a most promising beginning …
It occurs to me to wonder whether Father Wilfred and Norton are even living in the same time period as each other. There almost seem to be two Gideon Falls. Wilfred seems to live in a smallish rural farming community. Lots of open spaces, fields, trees, an isolated church with no other buildings around it … Norton, on the other hand, definitely lives in a city. Tall buildings fairly close together, a city park with benches and streetlights and all, apartments and offices, elevated highways, and--according to a sign--a population of over 4 million. So they’re either the same place in different time periods--though the cars and fashions in Wilfred’s scenes don't feel that old--or Gideon Falls is the city and the Catholic Church is actually waaaay on the outskirts, probably in a nearby town--Gideon Falls Township or something like that. To put it in terms of where I live, Norton’s scenes feel like Ann Arbor, whereas Father Wilfred’s feel more like Saline or Milan.
Anyway, a very promising beginning. I’m definitely keen to see where this is all going. Recommended!