Review: Gideon Falls Vol. 2- Original Sins
Quick Summary
Pros: The mystery throughout this book is incredibly compelling. A big reveal near the volume’s conclusion is well executed. The artwork is gorgeous and enhances the story in ways that make it even more compelling than before.
Cons: The tension is a bit more subdued in this volume.
Overall: The second volume in the Gideon Falls series is a wonderful return to a captivating world of uncertainty. It successfully continues the mystery from the first volume in a way that is addictive and gives confidence that this series is on the right track. Though it places a bit less focus on tension and suspense, it still manages to maintain a hold on the reader’s attention from start to finish. Anyone who enjoyed the mystery in the first volume should continue reading here.
Story
Gideon Falls Vol. 2: Original Sins, by Jeff Lemire, is an immensely interesting continuation of the mystery of the Gideon Falls series. This comic gives readers answers to some of the questions they have been asking about what is going on in this series but is careful to never reveal too much. This allows for some satisfying moments where things start to make sense while still maintaining the addictive feeling of uncertainty that makes reading Gideon Falls so fun. All of this also leads to a pretty epic reveal near the collection’s conclusion. Overall, this volume continues most of the positives from the first volume and is a solid read in general.
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Original Sins achieves quick success by instantly recapturing the allure of the mystery it began developing in the first volume. As readers progress through this book, they receive answers to a few questions and start to see the veil pulled back in regards to what exactly is going on. They discover that Norton is probably Clara’s missing brother, that Joe Reddy had something to do with his disappearance, and that there are people in the real world who are actively working against Norton.
However, despite learning all of this, it feels as if the series has barely scraped the surface in regards to what this comic is really about. Writer Jeff Lemire ensures that there are still plenty of unanswered questions out there and that the reader has plenty of reasons to come back for more. It is a satisfying give and take that provides some instant gratification but withholds a larger reward for later.
The best example of this interplay between answering old questions while raising new questions happens when the comic’s two worlds begin to collide. Up to this point, readers have been under the impression that Norton and Father Fred have been investigating the same mystery from different places in the same town. However, here, readers learn that they have actually been investigating this mystery from two completely separate dimensions. It is a shocking and well thought out reveal that explains a lot about what has been going on but also adds even more questions to the mix. In the end, the mystery makes more sense but key details are still missing,
The only aspect of Original Sins that may disappoint fans of the previous volume is how subdued the tension ends up being. The previous collection had a constant threat of murder and closed with a life-or-death battle in another dimension. This one still has some strange occurrences but they don’t have the same feeling of imminent danger that the first had. I, personally, didn’t have a problem with these changes but I could easily understand how fans looking for a thriller would not appreciate this shift.
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Art
Like the artwork in the first volume, the artwork in Original Sins is incredible and plays a massive role in making this comic as good as it is. Andrea Sorrentino work is detailed and uniquely stylized but the best part about it is the way in which it enhances the overall storytelling experience. Each and every page of this book feels meticulously structured in order to better tell this story. Dialogue and characters are positioned in a way that eases the flow of conversation, plash pages appear in places where additional shock or awe are necessary, and tons of background details help showcase things that would otherwise go unnoticed. There are even places where the pages seem to twist and turn or where surrealistic imagery conveys the point of the narrative better than words could. However, instead of further complicating things, these bizarre pages actually help visualize concepts that would otherwise be hard to explain to the reader. In the end, Andrea Sorrentino’s artwork turns this into a story that can only exist as a comic book and, in doing so, pushes the medium to wonderful heights.
Continuity
Gideon Falls Vol. 2: Original Sins continues the story started in Gideon Falls Vol. 1: The Black Barn (Review).
The story here continues in Gideon Falls Vol. 3: Stations of the Cross.