Comic Review: Gideon Falls #8

Gideon Falls #8

Image Comics

Writer: Jeff Lemire

Artist: Andrea Sorrentino

Gideon Falls is heating up once again with the mystery of the Black Barn revealing it’s power over other people in the world. Another doctor in Dr. Xu’s practice took Norton. He is clearly acting in another’s interests, but we don’t know what that is. In the previous issue, Clara digs into her memory and concludes that Joe Reddy took her brother, Daniel. All of these conflicts are present in this issue. Here we go…

We go back to Norton’s childhood once again to see him in Catholic School where he is being mistreated and thrown into the basement where the darkness speaks to him. Once again, the man with the toothy grin appears throughout this issue. In the present day, Norton is back in a psychiatric hospital being pumped full of drugs and sedated into his head where the grinning man is there to speak to him. Sheriff Miller and Father Fred go back to Joe Reddy’s house in search of something relating to Daniel. Their discovery is where the issue ends, and we know that the two stories are going to tie together soon. Father Fred has a strange moment where he believes he is teaching a sermon only to find out that it is a Wednesday and no one is there. This phenomenon does lead Father Fred to an essential piece of the puzzle, which comes around at the end of this issue.

Jeff Lemire is winding us up for another arc finale, and I’m ready to keep reading. In my review of the Volume One finale, I was harsh about the anticlimactic ending to the inside of the barn, and I stick by that. A lot of readers enjoyed it, but I thought it was a waste of time and too early to go inside the enigma that is The Black Barn. As usual, he has me hooked in this story arc, and I’m hoping the climax is the payoff I am looking for from Lemire. He has created a great cast of characters here, and even a secondary character like Dr. Xu has turned out to be an important voice in the story.

In every review of this series, I make mention of Andrea Sorrentino’s creative use of panels and what he does on the page. I don’t see this anywhere else and in a comic that is supposed to keep you guessing and off-balance at times, this technique is so useful and effective. Everything about Sorrentino’s style fits for a book of this nature, and I find myself looking at his art closer before I flip the page.

Gideon Falls is still one of the best horror comics on the shelf and certainly at Image. I would give the credit to Lemire, but in my opinion, the credit needs to go to Lemire and Sorrentino both for bringing their vision to paper as they have. The story and the writing is stellar, but the artwork is just so unique and fresh. I know most of you are reading this comic, but for those who aren’t…why? Highly recommend.