Broken Frontier

Mobster Abel Tannori has John Doe right where he wants him. Will our man of mystery end up in his own unmarked grave?

Writer Mark Waid goes for full, cinematic noir as he finishes up what is hopefully only the first mini-series starring the enigmatic John Doe.

Abel Tannori has found out quite a bit about John Doe – enough to lure the crusader into a trap custom built. Now Doe is being forced to dig his own grave and he is discovering that the problem with being a man of mystery and a loner is that there is no one to come to your aid when you need it… Or is there?

Waid is surprisingly daring with Potter’s Field in that he has chosen to keep John Doe very much a man of mystery. There are few clues, even in this last issue, to what drives Doe and this flies in the face of audience expectations a bit. Not that anyone probably expects Waid to give the whole game away (that would ruin any sequels) but we do expect to learn a little bit more and those expectations are dashed. This is not a bad thing as Waid cannily uses this to keep playing on themes of names and the power they give. Tannori brags about the power just the mention of his name has and readers have already seen some of the closure that just the identifying of a body can give. Names have power and meaning and the fact that Doe remains a nameless enigma gives him a different kind of power.

Aside from the subtext of the names, Potter’s Field tells a very modern noir story. There has been an upsurge in this genre among comic books lately so Waid’s drama is starting to play in a more crowded field. Still, he nails all the conventions so perfectly it really moves this title to the top of the genre.

Of course, all of this is aided by Paul Azaceta’s dark, heavy, rough artwork and Nick Fillardi’s colors perfectly suited to noir. Admittedly some of the art does get confusing in places, particularly during the action scenes. In a couple of places it is difficult to tell who is shooting at whom and who is getting shot. Fillardi in particular does a good job in keeping the colors dark with wine reds instead of scarlet, sepia tones instead of white and dirty browns to emphasize the dirty world all these characters are playing in.

If you’re looking for something with crime, mystery, a fascinating hook, and an interesting subtext that will bounce around in your head long after you put the comic away, then look no further than Potter’s Field. Hopefully this will not be the last readers see of John Doe.