Fell
Feral City, Vol. 1 Trade Paperback
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Ben Templesmith
Image Comics
Cover price: $14.99; Available now

Continuing in Geeks of Doom’s Tuesday Trades series, I bring to you another book that must also be considered for reading if you are intending upon being a comic book fan of any level. Fell, written by Warren Ellis and with hauntingly eerie artwork by Ben Templesmith, has been lauded as not only a brilliant comic book, but as a successful attempt to redraw the lines that surround the comic book world.

So today we look at Fell, Vol. 1: Feral City, the first trade paperback edition, wrapping up the first 8 issues of Ellis’s comic book experiment. Fell’s experimental tag came from having only 16 pages’ worth of story, leaving the remaining 8 pages to be filled out with a comic book version of a DVD’s extra features, showcasing panels left out, the story’s background, etc.

However, and much to the detriment of the book, Fell, Vol. 1: Feral City doesn’t contain any of these behind the scenes extras. In fact, the book is totally devoid of the normal extras you would associate with a TPB, with not even a cover gallery appearing in the back.

Nevertheless, though that does detract from the overall score a TPB will get from me, it doesn’t detract from the actual content provided within.

Fell has not gotten rave reviews, both critically and popularly, for nothing. The series is not just an experiment in comic book making and nothing else. Ellis brought his game to this book, and hit it out of the park issue after issue, leaving you reeling and wanting more. Needless to say, within time (only one TPB for Fell has been released) I intend to acquire the rest of Fell in TPB format (my preferred format).

The story is about Richard Fell, a homicide detective that has been reassigned to the city of Snowtown. Bereft of any actual geographical foundation, Snowtown is the epitome of Hell on Earth, or urban ghetto; take your choice. Together, Ellis and Templesmith manage to distressingly display a city somewhere between degraded inner American city and poverty stricken Africa.

Snowtown is guarded by three and a half detectives, serviced by almost no one which, inevitably, leaves many parts of the city to simply rot and decay, including the residents.

We haven’t been alerted to why Detective Fell has been removed to Snowtown, however, in three panels in issue number 4, Ellis alludes to the fact that Fell is being punished for something that he did, or didn’t do, back “across the bridge.” A brilliant detective, his talents are both necessary and wasted in Snowtown, leaving Fell sliding further and further in to a somewhat depressive rut.

An array of characters have been left in Snowtown to accompany Fell, including his now-girlfriend Mayko, owner of the local bar; his depressive, pill popping, drunken superior, Lieutenant Beard; a nun that wears a Nixon mask; and a variety of people for Fell to arrest.

Ben Templesmith’s artwork perfectly suits Ellis’s book, though his style isn’t one you will ever see in a top tier superhero book anytime soon. Sadly, no matter where I look, I cannot find anyone who is willing to step out on a limb and describe Templesmith’s art style. Philbert Ortiz Dy of ClickTheCity.com described it as “almost inexplicable” and was hard pressed to pick a style, listing realistic and cartoon-like as two disparate options to choose from.

For my part, there is a measure of realism to Templesmith’s art, as there is a measure of realism to the famous The Scream painting by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. As The Scream is described as “expressionist painting” I would go so far as to label Templesmith’s art under the same heading; it features more realism than not, but without the real-world proportions or backgrounds that we would account with, say, Alex Ross’s work.

As a comic book, Fell continues to get better and better, and is only at issue #9 (I think) at the time of writing this review, so if you haven’t caught on to the Fell craze, you can pick up this TPB and get right on board. As a TPB, this book gets 4 out of 5, because it really does nothing more than collect the 8 issues. However, Fell itself seems worthy of more than a 4 out of 5, but that is something I am hesitant to do, as it still doesn’t rank quite so highly as Queen and Country by Greg Rucka. Either way, if you’ve got a spare $10.19, head to Amazon and pick up Fell, Vol. 1: Feral City.