As a lifelong connoisseur of noir tales and a dedicated fan of Scott Snyder and Jock’s work, I find myself utterly captivated by their latest offering, “You Won’t Feel a Thing.” This gripping debut issue is a masterclass in storytelling that takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster ride through the twilight years of a once-great detective.
How does an aging detective spend their final days? In the realm of noir stories penned by Scott Snyder and Jock, our protagonist of their latest DSTLRY series, You Won’t Feel a Thing, has spent much of his life and career pursuing serial killers – he might even have been a central figure in some. However, instead of meeting his end at the hands of a masked murderer, this detective is confronted by a different kind of enemy: a tumor that steadily threatens his brain. Will he slip gently into the night or will lingering obligations force him to fight until the end?
Our ailing detective resides in a nursing home known as Harmless House, a somewhat ironic name, nestled in the Montana town where he was born and raised. This is also the same town where his first girlfriend met an unfortunate, violent end, which may have played a role in shaping his career path and fixation on The Chatter Man, a suspected serial killer he himself has labeled.
Although it’s been decades since that murder, he regularly refreshes those memories through exercises with his assistant, who prompts him to describe what lies beyond various doors. These doors open onto different periods of his life. He shares unremarkable details with her, but the reader gets a glimpse into his thoughts, as Snyder weaves in the young boy’s first love and other experiences using the same evocative, smoky prose usually reserved for scenes set in a private investigator’s office.
The book frequently explores doors and the mysteries they conceal, whether they hold a cherished memory, an ardent suitor, or a menacing assassin. Snyder additionally portrays the vacant grins of Harmless House’s inhabitants as hinting at a void within them. This vacancy mirrors the blissful ignorance detected in the detective’s grandson’s face before his tumor transformed it into something horrifying, underscoring the connection between innocence and life’s end, a link previously reinforced by the flashback to his adolescent years.
In Jock’s work, there is a masterful blend of reality and fantasy that makes his stories stand out. His art style, reminiscent of a more disciplined Bill Sienkiewicz, boasts thick black lines that fluidly transition between rigidity and irregularity. The panels in his layouts appear to hover over larger backdrops, with Lee Loughridge’s colors enriching the visuals with cool, ominous shadows or intense, fiery hues depending on the scene. Time gaps are not explicitly marked; instead, we experience events as our protagonist does, creating a sense of disorientation and confusion that matches his own. Scott Snyder’s consistent narration helps maintain narrative coherence throughout.
In a reassuring tone, this phrase is often used to console individuals going through challenging, albeit essential experiences. It could be before undergoing anesthesia for surgery or letting go of one’s hold on life in the face of death. This phrase, unspoken but implied, gives comfort to our detective as he approaches his own mortality and embraces his waning significance, even actively seeking it out to alleviate the long-standing melancholy that has haunted him. Can he cast off this gloom and confront the pain once more as The Chatter Man makes his ominous appearance?
Title #1 of “You Won’t Feel a Thing” delves into a brooding first chapter filled with poignant emotions and shrouded in an enigmatic secret. Is the Chatter Man authentic? Does he relate to Harmless? Or is it something deeply personal? Can we confront the spectral fears hiding in our private corners before bidding farewell to our lives? Snyder and Jock provide no straightforward solutions, merely a puzzling fog of unresolved queries and questionable storytellers. Yet, this ambiguity only heightens the intrigue. It’s apparent that there are hidden depths beneath the surface, and readers will be drawn to uncover more about “You Won’t Feel a Thing” #1.
Published by DSTLRY
On January 15th, 2025
Written by Scott Snyder
Art by Jock, Dom Reardon
Colors by Lee Loughridge, Jock
Letters by Andworld Design
Cover by Jock
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2024-11-18 17:09