Mafia, monsters, and cosmic horror. If you love Lovecraft and dig crime fiction, then Weird Detective is probably on your pull list already. This week, the series continues Greene and Fayez’s perilous search for the Juice Box Killer.
Is it good?
Weird Detective #3 (Dark Horse Comics)
Observations
- I think we’ve all had a boss at some point who shares the same level of empathy as the Mi-Go hive mind.
- Fred Van Lente continues to write the most accurate cat in comics.
- Fayez really needs to stop searching closets and start searching rooms.
- Monster Greene > Mother Hydra.
- FIREWORKS!
- …followed by a confusing interlude.
- Police bureaucracy politics: The greatest horror of all.
- But Fayez and Greene have to canvas a neighborhood together is the best thing ever.
- NEW MONSTER!
Is It Good?
It was dicey up until the last few pages.
Any story involving cosmic monsters in Brooklyn requires that you suspend your disbelief, but I have a hard time understanding how Fayez could miss what appeared to be painfully obvious clues about Greene—even with the laughably convenient distraction.
Thankfully, her investigation leads us into a great fight scene, which leads us into more Greene/Fayez dialogue, which is one of the best parts of the series. Watching them struggle to deal with each other and the realities of a corrupt police department is tragically hilarious. Van Lente does an exceptional job of injecting the script with a large dose of humor while still maintaining a dark and tense atmosphere.
Another great thing about Weird Detective are the monsters. Guiu Vilanova draws Greene’s underwater battle with Mother Hydra beautifully. He also renders one of Lovecraft’s most famous monsters in a way that might be one of my favorite interpretations of all time.
I still don’t get what the Hollywood guy’s part in all this is. If Van Lente is planting seeds, then they sure don’t feel like something that will grow into the main narrative. But once you get past that (and Fayez’s situational obliviousness), Weird Detective #3 finishes things up as a solid entry in what’s turning out to be a fantastic series.
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