Broken Frontier

A boy in a small town has an accident and loses his sense of hearing; little does he or anyone else realize it also left him with a small gift.

In most small towns everyone knows everyone. There are no secrets, as everyone knows each others’ business as well. But when Nestor Gudfred fell into the lake and came out without his sense of hearing, there were suddenly questions. How did this happen? Was it something to do with the girl who pulled him from the lake? And most importantly, how will this affect those who are related to the boy? We see bits and pieces of answers to these questions, right before a rug is pulled from under us and the townsfolk and we have a whole new set of questions.

The beginning of Josh Hagler’s story is one that shows just how capable he is as a comic creator. He never gives the readers anymore than is needed, which keeps them informed but asking questions. His characters seem to have been brought straight from the real world, as all their motivations and actions are very realistic. The dialogue has a real sense of authenticity and the book moves along at a fairly nice pace. There are times when he seems to run along with his descriptions a little too long, where he could have been briefer and still made his point but it is never enough to cause any trouble. A slightly bigger issue is actually one of the lettering, which is fairly standard as compared to the interesting writing and artwork.

On the cover of the book there are testimonials from two famous comic creators: David Mack and Sam Kieth. When you look at the artwork inside, it is obvious why since Hagler has been greatly influences by these two luminaries. His artwork and sense of coloring is very much influenced by Kieth and his collage style on certain pages brings Mack immediately to mind. And yes, this is all done with proper respect and to wonderful results. While the story itself takes place in a simple setting with simple people, the artwork is wonderfully stylized. His character designs show off the little differences between Nestor and the rest of the town and his use of color is incredibly inspired.

Just take one look at this book and it is obvious why it won a recent Xeric Grant. There is a great amount of promise in this book, and there is little doubt that a talent like Hagler can make it all work.

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The Boy Who Made Silence can be ordered directly from www.5minedfields.com