Broken Frontier

As above, so below. Neil Gaiman’s novel of urban fantasy gets the comic book treatment, courtesy of Vertigo.

Richard Mayhew is just an ordinary guy. He has a steady job and a loving fiancée. He gets pushed around a little by both boss and girlfriend but overall, he has a pretty decent life. That is, until he meets Door, a beautiful and mysterious refugee from London Below. Hers is a world just beyond the one Richard knows, unseen by those in London Above because they choose not to. But when Richard tries to defend Door from the dangerous men pursuing her, can his life ever be the same again?

Based on the popular fantasy novel and BBC miniseries, Neverwhere makes the jump to comics with the help of Mike Carey and Glenn Fabry, with original author Neil Gaiman as creative consultant. This first issue remains true to Gaiman’s vision and hits all the necessary moments and emotional beats of the story’s introduction. Neverwhere reads like a dark modern variation on a classic fantasy scenario—hero leaves the world he knows and is whisked off to an incredible and frightening Wonderland. The opening sequence nicely conveys Door’s desperation as she is pursued by the unsettling Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar and shows us a glimpse of her unique gift. The story also takes on a comical and ironic tone at times, as Door communes with pigeons and babbles grandiose prose about fiefdoms and House Portico in contemporary London. Richard’s affable but perplexed reactions endear the character to the readers and already we begin to see his status quo changing around him.

As with much of Gaiman’s work, Neverwhere deals with classic themes given a decidedly unique and character-driven spin. So far, Carey seems to be doing an excellent job with the adaptation—small wonder, given the caliber of his writing for this genre elsewhere. Having proven his mettle on other Vertigo series (often with other Gaiman characters), Carey is truly the best man for the job.

Glenn Fabry’s art utilizes a solid and appealing illustrative style, never too detailed or too sparse. Where Fabry shows flashes of inspiration are in his character designs. Door resembles a cross between a harlequin and an 18th century street urchin. The keyhole tattoo over her eye is a particularly inspired touch. Equally intriguing is the Marquis de Carrabas, a central figure of the tale. Described as "very dark complexioned," the Marquis in Fabry’s art looks like a living shadow, his face a blot of darkness with eyes and a mouth. I must confess that the BBC series was the only version of Neverwhere I had previously seen so I’m not certain how much of the design is Fabry and how much comes from the book. In any case, I’m finding the look of the comic quite interesting. A word of caution to fans of the novel however—if you already have a vivid picture of the cast in your mind, these artistic variants may be hard to accept (as they were for my sister, for instance, when she glanced at the issue).

Neverwhere gives a fresh urban flavor to the literary tradition of the hidden magical land. Fans of Gaiman and Carey’s work or of fantasy in general will not want to miss Richard Mayhew’s journey.