Dark Grey Smoke (Stuart Phillips Crime Book 4)

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Amazon Restaurants Food delivery from local restaurants. For a biography of Barry Gardner, click on his name above. Some have asked me from time to time, what are submission guidelines for the Barry Award. It is pretty simple: Our staff doesn't even attempt to read everything. We try to keep our ears to the ground and read what people are talking about.

And from time to time we find Barry Award nominees by our own idiosyncratic reading. In short, we don't have an organized reading program whereby all members of the nominating committee read the same books. We choose people on the committee who read widely and try to find consensus among them. It isn't perfect, but no system is. It's a lot of men in suits talking and smoking and there's not always a lot going on at times, but it's drawn by sean Phillips and has the usual inner monologue of Brubaker.

So if you like both those things, you'll probably like this. Sep 01, Crystal Starr Light rated it it was amazing Shelves: She really likes it! It was dark and gritty, mysterious and adult. It's almost like that horrible movie, "Black Dahlia", only well done. I didn't care for Charlie but I almost never like the male protagonist wash-out. No, what I loved was the atmosphere, the golden shiny exterior of Golden Age Hollywood and revealing the dirty bits inside, the nuanced characters, the smell of fear and filth and sleaze and drugs and sex and smoke and booze.

I don't typically LIKE this era because it's so overdone, but this almost makes me want to change my mind. If all post-WWII media were like this, the underside of the Golden Age of Film, the sweat and fear of McCarthyismm, blowing apart the myth of the Perfect Nuclear Family seriously, my grandmother had a shotgun wedding, and all my grandparents have been divorced at least once - so much for that "perfect wonderful family" image, amirite?

My feelings when I got to the last page? Nov 21, Tom Mathews rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Casting couches, blacklisted screenwriters, glitzy stars, murder and corruption. What more can you ask for? It's the first part of, what, a trilogy? Oh well, suck it up, Tom.

Aug 05, Alice Lippart rated it liked it Shelves: Love the art and the noir setting, but would've loved a bit more of the actual story. Sep 28, Matthew rated it it was amazing Shelves: I had no clue what I was getting myself into when reading this graphic novel and now that I have finished reading it I can say that this series is spell-binding, suspenseful, and provides the dark side of old glamour Hollywood!

I will definitely be reading the rest of the series and I highly recommend to pick this up and invest a few hours of pure entertainment. He immediately knows something is quite wrong because he's not at home and instead in one of the apartments that the film studio provides and sure enough when he makes most of the connections he figures the impending doom that awaits which is the death of an actress who has been choked to death.

There is blood and other incriminating evidence and Charlie believes he is innocent but does not want to leave any suspecting evidence that can frame him so he wipes the evidence away and rushes out the door pretending that he did not witness anything. The story shifts to different characters and for the most part we see how the death of Valeria Sommers affects everyone while maintaining Charlie as the main character.

He feels awful that by tampering with evidence it closes the window for justice but the scary moment arrives when he discovers that the film studio is covering up her murder by saying she committed suicide and they are getting away with it. Charlie has mixed feelings through the course of the story because on one hand he is dealing with traumatic events from WW2 that has caused him to suffer from writers block. Since we are entering the blacklist era of Hollywood, Gil Mason who is a screenwriter and close friend of Charlie is being blacklisted from Hollywood.

Gil realized that Charlie has lost for the meantime the talent of writing screenplays so to save both their asses, Gil told Charlie to give his name to the list of Communist people so that way they both still have a job and are getting paid for it. Throughout the whole graphic novel, you are trying to figure out who could the murderer possibly be and Ed Brubaker is brilliant at keeping the suspense alive by drops bits of information that sucks you into the story and will make you beg for more.

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I have never read or seen anything that deals with Noir so it is refreshing entering this series with blind eyes. I love the illustrations with the wild and chaotic colors in the background to showcase the intensity of the situation. When reading this graphic novel I could not help myself picturing this as a film or a miniseries because if they were ever to adapt this series to the screens it will translate well and still maintain that whiff of mystery. While all these characters are fictional it was interesting to discover characters who are actual real Hollywood actors and makes the crossover smoothly and fascinating.

It breaks the 4th wall in my opinion and blends the story around making it a foggy memory as if this story was real just like Charlie's memories.

This book scared me a bit and not in the sense of Horror but by the shroud of mystery over this poor girls death. Hollywood in that period was a dangerous field to be invested in because everyone wanted to become famous so there are many film studios that took advantage with leading actresses because if they did not give in to sexual favors or other filthy acts of horror they could lose the deal of being the star in the film. This theme of ugliness is shown in pieces throughout the narrative and I have no doubt that it will get worst in the future. I know this story is fictional but it makes me wonder how many stories are out there hidden in peoples memory never to see the light of day on how Hollywood took innocent people and turn them either into monsters or unrecognizable version of themselves that ruined lives, marriages, and families all to have their dazzling faces up on the big screen.

There are countless rumors and conspiracies that still lurk today when it comes to talking about the past and for many people including Valeria Sommers their deaths can remain as a mystery forever. I do not know why but this book reminded me a lot of Hollywoodland with Ben Affleck which was a great film when I saw it many years ago and it had that vibe throughout the book so I am curious what will happen in the upcoming volumes and see if they can keep this perfect flow going until the grand finale!

May 17, Nicole rated it liked it Shelves: The art, oh, the art in this graphic novel, it deserves its own glowing review! It's fitting the era and it sets the atmosphere just about right. Some frames are especially breathtaking and I spent quite a bit of time just observing the details. The story though is kept in the frame of noir genre, and while it's not a crime per se, I feel like it fits too comfortably there. Fade out doesn't stray much from stereotypical plots and due to the lack of risky elements doesn't offer an interesting angl The art, oh, the art in this graphic novel, it deserves its own glowing review!

Fade out doesn't stray much from stereotypical plots and due to the lack of risky elements doesn't offer an interesting angle on any of the characters. I will mention that Dottie was lovely, but still criminally underdeveloped. Same thing can be said about our protagonist whose motives are yet a secret to me. Alongside many other characters and subplots that were introduced, but never explained, he remains a mystery. In the end it's quite a limited work of fiction, that not only doesn't leave a lot to imagination, which is important in a crime story, but also tells you nothing of the matter in the end.

The art was stunning, but also too clean for the story that was presented and it might have been a conscious decision, but I wish they went further. Let's take for example a scene that supposed to shock us - a murder, or even better an orgy. The women in it were all looking the same way - all glossy, fit bodies, just differently colored wigs.

I highly doubt a reality of this situation. Such small, but noticeable details made the novel more glamourous, but less gritty. Overall it's readable, at parts even enjoyable. It won't hurt the narrative to pick up pace though. I received a digital copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Mar 14, Martin rated it it was amazing Shelves: There is really only one thing wrong with this book: The Deluxe Edition, Vol.

The Classified Edition , as well as Fatale, Vol. Death Chases Me and its four so far subsequent volumes. As far as crime comics go arguably, even crime fiction , these are top-notch books. Don't be surprised when I tell you that this firs There is really only one thing wrong with this book: Don't be surprised when I tell you that this first collected edition of their new series is already shaping up to be worthy of the same praise. With only 4 issues collected, however, the pleasure ends way too soon.

Best thing to do is just to re-read a couple times it until the next volume comes out. It was a weird ending though, but I'm looking forward to finishing it. I really am anxious to know what happens next. Jan 21, Jeannette Nikolova rated it it was ok. Also available on the WondrousBooks blog. For some reason, I had completely different expectations about this book and I thought I was going to be reading a supernatural noir, instead of just a regular one. The Fade Out , much to my disappointment, was a rather ordinary crime novel set in the late 40's in Hollywood.

I say disappointing, because this volume had every single characteristic of every other noir novel: As a plus, this book also has Clark Gable. It's very fortunate that I watched Gone with the Wind just a couple of weeks ago, so I was more excited to see him than I normally would have been. Character-wise, everyone is basically one of the cliches I listed above. Story-wise, the book isn't much more original. If I was expecting a supernatural thriller, it didn't work out to begin with.

However, even the volume that I ended up reading didn't possess many redeeming qualities. Except for the art. I rather liked the art style. It had ups and downs - the ups being that it very well fit into the 40's Hollywood style and it was very pretty; and the downs, a lot of the characters kind of looked like each other to a point I wasn't sure who was who. I usually go optimistically about comic book volumes, persuading myself to continue with the next ones, but I think I will pass on act II of The Fade Out. Jun 01, Suvi rated it it was amazing Shelves: Anyone who browses my GR shelves won't fail to notice my love of classic cinema.

The Quintessential Noir Films -list in iCheckMovies is currently my life blood, so obviously I shrieked from joy when a blogger I follow recommended a film noir-inspired comic she was actually used as a model for one of the characters, which is pretty neat.

When the protagonist wakes up in a bath tub after a hard night of partying and finds a dead starlet in the living room, there's no doubt that you're in for Anyone who browses my GR shelves won't fail to notice my love of classic cinema. When the protagonist wakes up in a bath tub after a hard night of partying and finds a dead starlet in the living room, there's no doubt that you're in for a fun ride. It was immediately clear that the authors have captured the genre's tone with incredible precision. A research assistant helped in maintaining the authenticity of s L.

Reading the comic is like following a movie: When you combine all that with excellent art that plays with light and shadows like the best film noirs do, you get perfection. The art also has varying styles: These lend the story a sense of mystery and ambiguity, especially since the story appears to have a lot of subtlety. Because of that this will definitely handle multiple reads in the future. On the other hand, the characters are believable in their noir surroundings. They might have been if the protanogist had been a private detective, but because he's a screenwriter the story immediately has more appeal.

Some of the peripheral characters remind you of real people: Even a few very real people make an appearance: Clark Gable 's entrance came hilariously out of nowhere, Humphrey Bogart seems to pop up everywhere you go, and Bette Davis is mentioned as almost stabbing a creep with a nail file makes total sense. The articles at the end of each issue are also worth the read, despite that some of the topics have been dealt with millions of times before: For once I read the reader letters as well. Lots of great film and tv recommendations, and all coming from people who are passionate about old films.

Mar 09, Patrick rated it liked it Shelves: Means he must have had a great time right? Nope, not so much. Because there happens to be body of a murdered actress in the adjoining room. Unsure of what to do, and knowing that this would reflect poorly on him, Charlie decides to do the honorable thing… or not. He erases all evidence that he was there, leaving the body for someone else to find. When he does eventually hear news about her death, it has been ruled a suicide. Sounds like conspiracy is afoot! This is the end of the Hollywood golden age after all, where all the sex, murder, drugs are covered up.

And this is clearly no different. The artwork and text are well done, and blend perfectly. I also found the use of real actors and characters based on other ones allows for the creation of a very captivating world. That being said, the ending does promise an improvement in this category in the next issues to come.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in exchange for this honest, if poorly written, review. Mar 21, Taylor Knight rated it really liked it Shelves: This is such an interesting graphic novel. I've never read a graphic novel that wasn't sci-fi or superheros so this was a really different for me. I thought the noir concept was great.

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