New Arrival: Gideon Falls

Any writers or those knowledgeable about literary conventions are likely familiar with the MacGuffin. Described by Wikipedia, it’s “a plot device in the form of some goal, desired object, or other motivator that the protagonist pursues, often with little or no narrative explanation.” The article goes on to say that the actual object itself isn’t important to the plot but its effects on the characters is. From the Citizen Kane’s “rosebud” to Roland’s Dark Tower, characters will go to any lengths to pursue these items. In the world of horror, of course, the pursuit of a particular MacGuffin is to risk madness and death (not necessarily in that order).  Gideon Falls: Original Sins, which is volume 2 of the series, explores the series’  MacGuffin, the Black Barn, while also leaving readers with more questions that keeps the reader reading.

Jeff Lemire, author of Sweet Tooth as well as superhero comics for Marvel and DC, has created a double narrative that is seemingly tied together by the mysterious barn. In one narrative, taking place in Baltimore, Norton Sinclair obsessively digs through trash to discover the meaning behind the Black Barn. Meanwhile, in the small town of Gideon Falls, Father Fred, a disgraced priest, discovers the Black Barn as he encounters a murder. The Black Barn might loom large in this series, but like any good MacGuffin story, it is the characters that draw people in, from Father Fred and his guilty conscience, to Norton, who sees shadowy enemies who try to thwart his efforts. What seems like paranoia at first for Norton is actually part of the story’s conflict.

The story is intriguing, but what makes Gideon Falls truly haunting is the artwork, particularly when readers are taken into the Black Barn and see that the reality within the Barn does not conform to logic or sanity. From surreal images to the size and placement of panels, readers are immersed in the bizarre world that brings to mind the Twilight Zone and its promise of entering another dimension.

The story itself is ongoing, but it already has me hooked. MacGuffins can turn cliché in inexperienced hands, but strong characters and surreal images in Gideon Falls shows not only great character development but a great mesh of words and art.