Zeb Larson reviews The Fade Out #3…
BRUBAKER & PHILLIPS’ new crime noir masterpiece is just getting started! Remember, every month THE FADE OUT has exclusive back pages articles that are only available in the single issues.
In the middle of the mystery, Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips introduce a few new characters and plot lines. Charlie only shows up in this issue for a grand total of four panels, so the mystery of Valeria Sommer’s death is as yet on the backburner. So what’s the intention here? To build an epic series, one with a number of plot threads and an appropriately large backstory. We’re likely not going to get any closure on Valeria’s murder for a long time, so we’re better off just kicking back and letting this story unfold.
This issue introduces several new characters, or people we’ve only seen bits and pieces of. We see a little bit of Mr. Thursby, the founder of Victory Street pictures, as well as some of his life in the early days of Hollywood. Much of the issue revolves around Maya Silver and her agent, Tom Greavey. Maya has been brought aboard the picture to replace Valeria, but Maya is bringing a lot of different baggage. She’s got a dark history, and things are complicated with her ex-husband, Armando Lopez. While Phil Brodsky has been occasionally present, we see some of his activities in “protecting” the studio and its stars in his own unique way.
The series has a great sense of history, particularly when the narration takes us back to the early days of Hollywood. Brubaker and Philips seem to be aware of how Hollywood grew and evolved, especially following the early scandals of the ‘20s. By the late ‘40s, Hollywood had grown into a powerful system, and men like Brodsky were the cogs that made the machine run. Scandals made Hollywood, but they also had the potential to break Hollywood, and this series is continuing to explore that relationship.
One of the themes you can see with Maya is the glitter and glamour of Hollywood brushing up against the ugly realities of stardom. Her scenes with Earl Rath are so interesting because she talks about getting the jitters, even as she later remembers the unpleasant things she’s had to do to get ahead. The interesting thing to me was her capacity to get, as she puts it, “the jitters.” Despite being directly exposed to Hollywood’s seemy side for a long time, Maya has a certain belief in what Hollywood represents. Is Rath the real deal, a stand-in for Cary Grant who might actually live up to the fictions created about him? Part of me is actually hoping so, which says how much this series has managed to engross me. On the other hand, given all of the ugliness elsewhere in the series, it’s hard to imagine he’s a wholly innocent man.
There’s not much else to say about this issue that isn’t just a spoiler, so this will have to do for now. Next issue looks like it will cover Charlie’s wartime experiences, which should make for good reading.
Zeb Larson
Originally published November 12, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
