Graphic novels like this really break through the stereotype that they're for kids and they're just comics.
This is an intelligently written and beautifully drawn story. It's got horror. It's got mystery. It's got great characters. Just a hint (so far) of a possible conspiracy, and was there some science fiction thrown into the mix later on?
The artwork is absolutely stunning. Sorrentino uses layouts better than any illustrator I've seen in the last few years. Unlike some graphic novels I've read where I just skim over the pictures with no words in, in this book I find myself studying every panel as they each feel like an integral part of the storytelling rather than something to fill the page. There are effects on the reader caused by this artwork that would be almost impossible to replicate in a text based medium.
We're introduced to two very different characters. Norton is a reclusive character living in the streets of a dingy city, obsessively collecting bits of trash. the only person he really talks to is his therapist. Father Wilfred a priest struggling with his belief who's moved to the parish of Gideon falls when the old priest dies. There he quickly becomes embroiled in the strange events happening in the town, especially those surrounding the Black Barn. Their stories run parallel with only the barn as a connecting factor until very close to the end of this volume.
I won't say what suddenly connects their stories - that would be an unfair spoiler.
Volume two of this series is very high on my to buy list. This series may well be the first graphic novels that I say prefer to Locke and Key - and from me that is almost the highest level of praise there is.
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