Gideon Falls Volume 2: Original Sins

This second volume of the Gideon Falls comic feels like marking time. Even the structure repeats that of The Black Barn, with the same slow build to another psychedelic final issue that takes us through the looking glass (or the reassembled doorway) before pulling out and dropping us off in the same desolate locations. Only now there’s been a switcheroo and Father Fred and Norton (really Clara’s missing brother Danny) have crossed over into each other’s worlds. Which really doesn’t feel like it’s moved us forward at all.

There are no new characters aside from the real Norton Sinclair. He’s the Victorian tinkerer who built the thingamajig in his barn that seems to have opened a portal into an evil dimension. There’s still no idea what Norton Sinclair or the Laughing Man or the Bug God or whatever the hell it is might be up to though. If I had to guess I’d say he, or it, is just into doing evil stuff.

I still enjoyed what was going on, but at the same time it felt a bit early for the series to be running out of gas. As I’ve said, they weren’t adding much new here. There are a bunch of elements that felt tired, like seeing the episodes of a couple of the characters as frightened children, Norton strapped into a straitjacket and locked in a padded cell, Doc’s wall of newspaper clippings, and the insect monster breaking out of a human body. Sorrentino’s art didn’t even feel like it was adding much either, aside from the great double-page spread of Gideon Falls turning into Times Square. Maybe the Bug God is an urban developer then. That would actually make a kind of sense. Because if you invented a time machine wouldn’t you want to use it to make some smart investments in real estate?

Worth sticking with then, but at the same time: get on with it!

Graphicalex