Fishkill
Writer: Dan Fogler and Laurence Blum
Artist: Ben Templesmith
Publisher: Heavy Metal
‘Fishkill’ isn’t neat or clean, both in its narrative material and its artistic choices. It's gritty and grimy, and consistently bloody.
Fishkill (the character) spends much of the story in the sewer, and at times the flecked ink and brown watercolour backgrounds make it feel like ‘Fishkill’ (the book) has as well.
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Detective Fishkill isn’t an easy protagonist, his lumbering physicality, mental health difficulties, and often monosyllabic dialogue making him as challenging for readers to engage with as he is for the other characters.
He heavily contrasts the book’s often overwhelming paragraphs of establishing copy, its cavalcade of often barely tangentially-related supporting characters, and the sinister intricacies of the wider world driving the plot.
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If this sounds like a mess, that’s because it is. ‘Fishkill’ is a challenge to read, but one that’s overwhelmingly worthwhile for dedicated comic book fans. It’s not a book that does readers any favours, but once locked in to what it actually is rather than what it isn’t, it’s utterly captivating and incredibly satisfying.
Want more of 2021’s greatest comics? Visit Amazon to purchase the full length ‘Best Comic Books of 2021’ book or eBook. It contains 45 detailed essays reviewing the year's best comic book titles.
After more comic book news and reviews? The Sea Shell mobile app is available worldwide as a free download on the App Store and the Play Store. Download it today.