Fade from Blue #3

Posted: Tuesday, November 12, 2002
By: Darren Schroeder

Cover of Fade from Blue #3 Writer(s): Myatt Murphy
Artist(s): Scott Dalrymple
Publishers: Second to Some Comics
From: US
Price: $1:50 (US)

Four half sisters had to go on the run as children when there mother died/were killed and their father disappeared. 9 years later the one who took the role of head of the family finds it hard to cope with not being needed by the others. At the same time, the sister who become a cop finds things are getting very difficult for her right now.

This is a book filled with talking heads. Nothing much happens apart from arguments, conversations, temper tantrums and tearful agony aunt sessions. The mysterious circumstances that surround the sisters are engaging. There is obviously a bigger story behind the father's disappearance, and hints are that the sister/cop's investigations might be about to turn something up.

The dialogue has to sustain this comic, and it succeeds for the most part. Some of the topics of conversation are grating, such as some flashbacks to when they had to agree on new names as children, but the interplay between the family members has a nice flow to it that takes the reader along.

Scott does a more than successful job on in the drawing side of things, with character work top notch though out, avoiding the usually pin up girl poses that most books with young women characters usually turn up. The rage of emotions displayed and poses are handled very well. Scott has a few personal touches that I found annoying, such as strange horizontal lines in the straight hair of some characters. Do they have bands of colour in their hair? I was also put off by the appearance of some panels with no background.

As a character based dramatic book with a hint of thriller this aims for an audience willing to put some effort into thinking things through and able to keep their attention on the story without any flashy action. This is an approach I found appealing. It was just the teenage girl angst that got on my nerves, but then, teenage girls get on my nerves as well.

In a Word: Talkative.



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