Father and Mother get to the village at the center as they prepare for death, in Gideon Falls #20, out this week from Image Comics.
First Impressions
After some mind bending reveals in previous issues, the journey to the center of it all begins here. Our characters are confused and ill prepared, but they’re running towards the danger. Everyone is preparing for the next step, but they don’t really know what that step is.
Creative Team
Jeff Lemire is following three groups in this issue and doing a magnificent job of pacing. After finally finishing Twin Peaks in a binge over the weekend, I’m able to pick out more similarities in the two stories. The only reason I even started watching Twin Peaks is because Lemire mentions it quite a bit. Gideon Falls is the weirdest and most evil parts of Twin Peaks. GF is what TP would be if it completely focused on the Black Lodge with a narrative much easier to follow, but without the comedy and awkwardness.
Art
Andrea Sorrentino continues to amaze with his work on this title every month. Nothing I can say about his work that I’ve not already said in previous reviews. His work is amazing, it’s haunting, and his panel layouts are unique in the industry. If there was a way to capture the weirdness of David Lynch cinema on a comic book page, Sorrentino does it. If I needed someone to draw one of my nightmares, I know exactly who to call.
Dave Stewart nails the colors for Gideon Falls, just like he does for every title he works on. He gets it. I would be surprised if he’s given any notes about how things should look anymore. Bright colors are toned down, and the only color that ever stands out is red. If I’ve learned anything from Twin Peaks it’s that red and black usually mean something is not right. Red doors, red rooms, red curtains, just stay away from the red stuff!
A bunch of bugs kept letterer Steve Wands busy this issue. The way the sounds of the bugs looks makes it feel like it’s a loud and bold sound that just burns into your mind and drives you crazy. Like your dryer squeaking or the brakes of a train screeching, you just want the sound to stop immediately. The sound still haunts you.
My 2 cents
The story feels like it’s winding down to a resolution, but if this story is anything like Twin Peaks was, it could go on forever. Since Gideon Falls is more of a narrative, hopefully we can expect an ending without more questions, but I think that was what drew people to Twin Peaks. It’s so strange and dreamlike that just about every scene can be interpreted a different way by different people.
We’ve seen that the Black Barn is connected to many different realities, but will it behave like the Black Lodge? If they find and destroy the barn, what happens to those other realities? Do they still exist? How will the characters be able to get back to their own world?
Can they even defeat this kind of evil? Check back next month for the next chapter of Gideon Falls.
What do you think of Gideon Falls? Have you seen Twin Peaks? What the hell did I just watch in Twin Peaks? Let us know in the comments below.
