Broken Frontier

Being one of John Doe’s agents means sometimes putting more than your life on the line…

Mark Waid may have become Boom! Studios’ Editor in Chief but he proves that he is able to multi-task as he returns to his original series Potter’s Field for an action packed one-shot. This is one story that shows just how wonderfully diverse and effective the comic book medium can be.

Detective Nissa Robbins is one of John Doe’s agents and she isn’t surprised when he calls her in on a case. What she is surprised by, however, is the fact that this is one investigation where she has to operate alone – and one investigation where the perpetrators of a crime just may strike a little too close to home. Robbins had better be careful or the next anonymous body her friend puts a name to just may be her own.

Waid’s Potter’s Field has been a clever and inventive series right from the start. The idea of a mystery man who dedicates himself to identifying the nameless dead buried in New York’s version of a ‘Potter’s Field’ is something that sounds like it would make a good TV series and, indeed, the first mini-series moved to have a kind of small screen cinematic quality to it. Those qualities only grow stronger with this one-shot. Among the many things Waid gets right here is the pacing of the story. He builds everything to its inevitable and exciting climax and makes it seem effortless. There is not a single misstep along the way and at no point does he let the story get distracted or wander off point. Amidst all of this he also does not neglect character development. Along the way of this story we meet and get to know another of Doe’s agents and we get a little more insight into Doe as well.

Paul Azaceta returns to handle the art here and, if anything, he has grown even more comfortable in the New York of Potter’s Field. He perfectly captures the grittiness and bustle of the streets, the loneliness of Hart Island where the unclaimed dead are buried, and the places where people live and work. It is interesting to note that Azaceta’s style, although having heavy, dark lines, never loses detail or leaves facial expressions murky or muddy and goes a long way toward giving the story a unique look. He also manages to handle the action sequences with a real ‘director’s eye’ – emphasizing and reiterating the "TV Show" feel of the series.

Potter’s Field: Stone Cold is some of Waid’s best non-superhero work out there. Action, adventure and mystery blend with all-too-human characters as well as real heart. If you want something that looks and feels like a really well-done TV series; if you are looking for something that is action packed and yet not the same old capes and cowls set; if you want a story that never forgets its characters are human then dig up Potter’s Field.