Zeb Larson reviews Fade Out #4…
Sex and violence in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Charlie’s flashbacks to the war affect his work, and his secret mission to solve a covered up murder. And remember, like all BRUBAKER/PHILLIPS comics, the back pages of THE FADE OUT are filled with extra art and articles you can only find in the single issues!
It’s been a hell of a long wait, but Fade Out is finally back. The first arc of Fade Out comes to an end in this issue, and we’re still left with more mysteries and questions than answers. For anybody expecting some kind of resolution or insight, we’re still largely at square one, but the story is brilliantly told. This is the first time that real-world characters play a large role in the story, and the fact that both Ronald Reagan and Clark Gable figure into the story make for a cool touch.
Charlie and Earl Rath decide to go out after Dottie, the PR woman, asks Charlie out on what may or may not be a date. They briefly visit a photographer who happens to moonlight selling pornography, and while browsing, Charlie sees a photograph of a man with Ronald Reagan that jogs his memory. The date is mostly a publicity stunt to show that Tyler Graves, Maya Silver’s boyfriend, is a tough guy, complete with a staged beating of a man who fondles Maya. Charlie briefly runs into an old friend, Clark Gable, and he briefly reminisces about their war experience together: filming bombing runs over Germany, an experience Charlie would like to forget. The rest of the evening is a drunken haze, offending Dottie and dancing with Maya, until he remembers where he saw the man. This sets Charlie off, and suddenly it’s no longer a coincidence.
The stop at the photographer/pornographer has to be a reference to The Big Sleep, in which illicit pornography is a key part of the mystery. Will he be a larger part of the mystery, or was it just an acknowledgment of a film noir classic? The real mystery is the man in the photograph and his relationship to Ronald Reagan. Rath mentions Reagan giving away names of left-leaning actors to the FBI. Is the man an agent, or something else?
This story really does run a lot on atmosphere and the ability of the creators to conjure up the feeling of Hollywood noir. It works. The presence of historical tidbits, like Clark Gable’s WWII documentaries with the air force or Reagan’s involvement with the FBI certainly helps. More importantly, the absence of hard answers or trust propels the story even as we readers are lost trying to put it all together. Charlie can’t trust his memories, let alone the people that he’s with. The fact that everything is for appearances, ranging from the date to the faked punch to the illicit pornographer, means that Charlie as well as the audience can trust very, very little. Fade Out is one enormous seedy underbelly.
Hopefully, the wait for the next issue won’t be quite as long as it was for #4. Fade Out has me hooked.
Zeb Larson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JoHXAqSnD5g&list=PL18yMRIfoszH_jfuJoo8HCG1-lGjvfH2F
Originally published January 8, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
