Narco #4 // Review
There’s a detective at Marcus’ door. Seeing as how he’s one of the best chances that Marcus has to prove his innocence, it’s really important for Marcus to be available to him. So Marcuse is quick to answer the door. Unfortunately, when Marcus answers the door, the detective on the other side looks...upset. He’s about to give Marcus some particularly bad news. He’s alone and there appear to be even fewer people he can count on. Things are about to get worse for Marcus in Narco #4. Writer Doug Wagner and artist Daniel Hillyard continue an engrossing murder mystery thriller with. colorist Dave Stewart.
Marcus really shouldn’t have investigated when he did. All on his own. As a civilian. Without a search warrant. At a crime scene. In retrospect, all of this was an obvious mistake. That doesn’t make it feel any better. Marcus needs to think. He needs a pop tart or two. Of course...things are only going to get worse when there’s a fire in his apartment. Maybe he can hang out with the possum outside his scorched apartment. If he does so, he might just have a revelation that could open things up...if nothing else goes wrong...
Wagner has carefully constructed the plot to move forward at a respectable pace without compromising some very endearing moments with Marcus that allow for mood and a growing emotional connection between character and reader. The time spent with the possum is clearly a part of this, but then...there are some beautiful silent moments that are rarely afforded in narrative fiction of any kind. It’s actually kind of daring to have a full page and a half of Marcus at his place just...sleeping. It holds its narrative place adding to the tension, but it DOES run the risk of losing the reader until the sudden apartment fire shifts gears on the issue.
Hillyard once again frames the tension from slightly off-center angles with perfectly clarity. Straight lines are ever-so-slightly curved, but it’s all brought to the page with such straightforward earnestness. The lack of visual ambiguity in the visual rendering of the art makes the abstract tension of the mystery in the script that much more powerful. Above all...marcus’ emotions are rendered for the page in a way that is exaggerated without feeling unduly amplified. The visual reality of the issue isn’t entirely realistic, but it feels real on a very emotional level.
The tension continues to mount as the mystery continues to increase in complexity. There’s a lot going on around the edges of the narrative that could theoretically develop into major details in the central plot. Things begin to become clearer as the series reaches its fourth issue. Wagner and Hillyard have a clever rapport. The serial murder drama in the team’s I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer series may have had more of a stylish narrative flair about it, but Narco is definitely a lot of fun.
