Image Comics; $14.95
Here’s a recipe for solid entertainment for connoisseurs of crime comics: Mix equal parts Zen attitude, clever Beat Generation dialogue and, of course, crime. Add good art. Publish infrequently. Stands up over time.
Mark Ricketts has crafted a dangerously smooth ride straight up the on-ramp and onto the be-bop road that leads to one place and one place only: Nowheresville. It’s crime comics with a beat, a combination that rings so authentic you’ll find yourself looking for your copies of On The Road and I, The Jury at the same time.
The characters, the dialogue, and the art are compelling from page 1 onward. Once started, it’s hard to put down.
Originally published through Caliber Comics beginning in 1995, Nowheresville is a highly compelling, incredibly literate read. Ricketts, a former Caliber contemporary of creators including Brian Michael Bendis, David Mack, and Galen Showman, landed his creation back on the stands on June 12, 2002, including plenty of new and some revised material.
While it’s been years since Image Comics put this collection into print, it’s no less deserving of your attention. Fans of crime fiction in particular owe it to themselves to check out this decidedly entertaining book.
– J.C. Vaughn