He would embarrass Sherlock Holmes … – review of the comic book “Detective Fell. A feral city “

Ben Templesmith and Warren Ellis teamed up to create a crime story titled Detective Fell . Has this comic brought a breath of fresh air to the genre?

On the other side of the bridge …

Snowtown, the city located across the bridge. The talented detective Fell is transferred here (Demotion? Or is it something more?). There is no doubt that the first thing you can do here after arriving is to commit suicide (these are the first words of the main character, anyway). Snowtown is a gloomy city, neglected in every way, and the inhabitants are strange, abnormal and crazy people.

Immediately after seeing the apartment, Rich Fell sees the paramedics taking out the corpse. This is how his first case begins. It seems that the guy is drunk to death, but the problem comes when it turns out that he couldn’t drink alcohol (he has ulcers and every drink he drinks recoils). However, as befits a Snowtown alcoholic, he found a “brilliant” way to get drunk. Strange thing? It’s a piece of cake, the next ones are even weirder.

Is there anyone normal here?

How best to reflect the atmosphere of Snowtown? Imagine a place where at least three corpses on the docks in a week is the norm (that is, at least as many are caught). Until the very first day, you can get a scythe under the ribs. Each building is marked with a special protective symbol because “Snowtown Takes People”. In addition, you can come across a nun wearing a Nixon mask, who buys weapons and uses the services of prostitutes …

When it comes to law enforcement, it’s not better either. The commissioner has three detectives at his disposal and in the middle of the fourth one (he lost his legs and is acting as a consultant), and at some point he decided to use less conventional methods of catching criminals …

And now imagine that you just want to try on pants in the dressing room… In Snowtown, you never know what you’ll find.

Eight criminal cases

I appreciate the variety of chapters. The first shows a picture of the city, and the crime itself is in the background. The next investigation is a typical collection of traces and a thread to a ball. Two other stories relate to the interrogation. In addition, there is also a story showing Detective Fell’s unconventional methods. The last chapter of eight covers the Snowtown Night Patrol… Lots of great and sometimes fun themes. It is a pity that the city itself is not always properly exposed.

Would you like to live in Snowtown?

I came across one typo and a punctuation error. Besides, the release is satisfactory. The graphic design has its charm – I cannot imagine that anyone could better convey the “beauty” of Snowtown. Besides, I have two main complaints. First, some cases feel compressed. This is because all the chapters are the same length, making some of the story pale (e.g. a detective suddenly runs into a person who brightens everything up). The second point is continuation. Unfortunately, no more chapters will come out, and a few threads remain unanswered (e.g. theme with a nun or with Rich’s past). Nevertheless, despite these drawbacks, it is a thrilling position. The repulsive city has its charm, it can literally engage you. Heroes, with their follies (even the main character has his ears behind him), depicted with the brilliant Ben Templesmith’s line, they create an explosive mixture. For this intriguing criminal cases. All this means that even if the next chapters never appear, still doDetective Fell is memorable …