Broken Frontier

In a Prohibition Era with otherworldly creatures, Al Stone takes a dangerous job made all the more so by his delusions.

Studio 407 is a fledgling comic book publisher at a time, unfortunately, when it is not such a good idea to be a fledgling comic book publisher. So it is surprising that they would include a graphic novel among their early releases. Still, if they had to pick any independent graphic novel to help carry their banner forward then they could not have picked a better one than Smuggling Spirits.

Al Stone is a man who works the edges of legality… and sometimes far from those edges as well. Still, it is the Depression and a guy has to find work wherever he can. Particularly since there are other things out there far more terrifying than hunger and joblessness. There are monsters in the world – things that prey on human beings. The problem is that something strange is going on with Al – where others see monsters he sees a homeless guy, where others see dragons he sees a large bird. What is wrong with Al? Young Nathan doesn’t know but Al saved his life and now he is determined to return the favor by trying to protect Al from the things he cannot see. When Al takes a job smuggling moonshine, however, things take a turn for the worse. Just because Al does not see the monsters does not mean they won’t kill him.

Writer Ben Fisher is not a name that will be too familiar among comic book readers – which is a shame because he has honed his craft to a high degree and it shows here. The story flows beautifully, the dialogue is pitch perfect and even the use of the caption boxes is perfectly balanced. There are some echoes of Sin City with this story (a comparison that is probably inevitable) but unlike some who ape Frank Miller’s style, Fisher does not succumb to the temptation to go overboard on the narration caption boxes. Another key difference is that, for all the hard edges here, there is an underlying heart and even gentleness with Smuggling Spirits that is missing from Sin City. Alongside the noir Fisher has chosen to mix some classic horror elements. Surprisingly, mixing horror and noir is not anything new in comic books and Fisher even sticks to some of the tried and true horror plot points – people under siege from dark creatures, a road trip beset by things that would rip a man to shreds, etc. Fisher, however, takes these familiar elements and mixes them with his own brand of fantastic monsters as well as some very intriguing reactions from the humans who try to continue their lives under this shadow.

Artist Mike Henderson is also a terrific find. The first thing I noticed in particular was what an amazing job he had done with the buildings, clothing, cars and other items of the time. He really did some homework here and it shows – he perfectly recreates that time period in America which then increases the jarring factor when he lets loose with the monsters. With a black and white noir story such as this, one of the things that cannot go wrong is the inks and here as well Henderson proves particularly deft. His line work is crisp and precise so that nothing is ever lost in the darkness or blurrily obscured. The designs for the monsters are also inventive and suitably horrifying and it is a treat to see some really odd and frightening designs instead of the usual Wolfman and Dracula stuff.

Smuggling Spirits manages to be something very rare these days – a story that comes out of nowhere and is practically perfect. There is careful genre blending, excellent tributes to both noir and horror, characters to fall in love with, and at the core a surprising amount of heart and soul. As a graphic novel the story flows smoothly and when you reach the end you feel as satisfied as if you’d just indulged in a four course meal.