Customer Reviews

Nowheresville

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Lots of cartoonists drop a few "daddy-os" and think they've brought back the beat generation, or toss in some tilted shadows and think they've single-handedly revived film noir. But Ricketts actually knows his stuff, and he makes these two disparate styles sing in "Nowheresville," his salute to the two coolest trends of the '50s. Never stooping to simple kitsch, "Nowheresville" is instead an exciting, complex examination of guilt and redemption. Rickett's art is the equal to his writing, evoking the bygone era with simplicity and style.

Hey cats and kitties, take a stroll way down-town, all the way down to the village inhabited by the cool and crazy, by the hip and hep, and by those who desire enlightenment and knowledge through the smooth flavor of Starlight smoke and the bang of the be-bop. But watch it, dad, 'cause it's also home to all the rolling stones, a generation driven wild by the beat and the thrills, drinking down life hard and double-fisted, from the poetry of the 'niks at the cafe to the pop-pop-pop at the burlesque. "Nowheresville," written and drawn by Mark Ricketts, is a murder mystery set squarely -- but not 'square'ly -- in the New York beatnik scene. The strangulation of a pin-up girl leads the chain-smoking Chic Mooney and his hip friend Mr. Queeg on journey through the underbelly and the underworld of post-war New York as Mooney is forced to examine his own history in order to dodge his inevitable future. Ricketts takes full advantage of the graphic novel format here, as the layout and design of each page adds to the reading experience. The black and white art is moody but clear -- each character is given some visual trait which makes it easy to distinguish their identity even in the most stylized panels. It's also a pretty good mystery, with a lot of seemingly dissparate plot threads woven together in the end in a way that's pretty hard to predict, but plays out fairly. Ricketts' writing is engrossing; the story advances quickly, moving from scene to scene without waste or wringing of hands. It's hard to put down once you get into it. "Nowheresville" is a mass market paperback-sized OGN, and I think anyone who likes a good mystery will thoroughly enjoy this book. Just remember that Queen Starlight is always watching.