The Fade Out Volume 1

by Ed Brubaker

Sean Phillips (Artist)

“A fun, fast read that is fully engaging. The multiple story lines and deeply flawed characters will keep the reader invested. Some of the content is for a mature audience, but this should not deter a worthy library purchase. For fans of Brubaker and Phillips, film noir, and Golden Age Hollywood stories.” - Library Journal (Starred)
Brubaker and Phillips' newest hit series, The Fade Out, is an epic noir set in the world of noir itself, the backlots and bars of Hollywood at the end of its Golden Era. A movie stuck in endless reshoots, a writer damaged from the war and lost in the bottle, a dead movie star and the lookalike hired to replace her. Nothing is what it seems in the place where only lies are true. The Fade Out is Brubaker and Phillips' most ambitious project yet!

• ISBN10: 1632151715
• ISBN13: 9781632151711
• Publish Date: 6 August 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Image Comics
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 120
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

A friend recommended The Fade Out to me, and after seeing the cover (love it!) I was sold. I know, I know, don’t judge a book by its cover; but sometimes I just can’t resist. It’s an epic noir set in Hollywood (ironic, I know) and has a main character unable to remember details to a pivotal event in the series. It all sets up to be a pretty intriguing read, to say the least. It’s from the same creators that brought you Fatale (which I haven’t read yet – it’s on the list).



Warnings First: the main event that sets things in motion is the rape, murder, and cover-up of said rape/murder. Nothing is directly shown (yet, that may change in future volumes), we do see her body and it is heavily implied that she was raped before/during her murder. The cover-up leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth, but that is intentional and part of the point.
The Fade Out had a lot of potential and so much going for it; a classic noir setting and theme, beautiful and thematically appropriate artwork, and much more. Despite that I found myself losing interest at points – I think it was borderline too busy and it just ended up being distracting at points. I’m actually disappointed I didn’t like it further, as I really wanted to get into a series like that (maybe Fatale will be more my pace?).
I think the main reason I couldn’t get into the series was the serious lack of development in all of the characters – I don’t even know what the main character’s motivation is. Considering I read the entire first volume, that is not a good sign to me.
I’m rating this one 3 stars as the artwork and foundation for the plot was perfect. It’s the follow-through that was lackluster. Will I be trying Fatale anyway? I believe so. I’ve had it on my list for a couple of months, and it has also been suggested to me. So I think it’ll be worth trying, even though Fade Out wasn’t my cup of tea.


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[wyvernfriend]

A dead actress and a writer plagued by nightmares