“The Outer Dark” raises many questions about the past and future of “Joe Golem, Occult Detective,” leaving us impatient for the next miniseries.
Written by Mike Mignola and Christopher GoldenCover by Dave Palumbo
Illustrated by Patric Reynolds
Colored by Dave Stewart
Lettered by Clem RobinsJoe discovers that the supernatural voices driving men insane may have roots in another dimension, and Church takes matters into his own hands when Lori starts to ask too many questions.
Mark Tweedale: Fair warning, since this is the final issue for this arc, this review is going to be full of spoilers. Chris, I’m going to be very interested in your thoughts on this one. In our review for issue #1, one of your criticisms was that in the two years since “The Sunken Dead” everything seemed to still be the same, not enough had changed. How do you feel about that now?
Christopher Lewis: I know now that things are very different than before. Some aspects might actually have always been the same, but now the veil has been pulled away and we see our characters more clearly for what they really are.
Overall I feel like there has been almost a loss of innocence here. The outer dark is hanging over our heads, antagonists have been established, and somehow the biggest hit is something close to home with Church and Lori. I’m still a little surprised by what happened.
Mark: Yeah, Christopher Golden did a double fake out. Back in issue #2, he let us believe Church might put something in Lori’s tea to make her forget, and then in this issue, he’s totally open with her, completely disarming her defenses before wiping her memory. Even more concerning is this wasn’t the first time. So Lori has been getting riled up about Joe’s dreams and going to Church over and over again. She’s stuck in a Groundhog Day–like loop and she can’t even remember it. Your criticism about things staying the same was actually an important plot point at work.
This is one of those reasons I often feel a little awkward reviewing these stories on an issue by issue basic. It’s a little like reviewing a prose novel on a chapter by chapter basis.
Chris: Good points. When issue #1 came out I was surprised that there was two-year gap in continuity from the last issue. Now I am certain the gap was done with premeditation by Golden to emphasize that Church has been wiping Lori’s memory for some time.
I have been questioning Church’s motivations regarding Joe since the beginning, but I did not think he would ever manipulate Lori like this. That being said I see a glimmer of hope for him since he acknowledged he was doing something wrong with his statement “…even if it damns me to hell.”
Mark, in a past review I brought up my concern about Church and you mentioned that you didn’t have a lot of questions about Church because you felt that you had already met him in reading the novel “Joe Golem and the Drowning City.” I still haven’t read the book, but I am curious if Church’s actions in this issue are in line with your understanding of Church from the book, or were you surprised by what transpired?
Mark: Church had a bit of moral ambiguity about him, so in the comic it’s more about discovering where he draws the line on certain issues. So either way, this would have fit with the character from the novel. That said, I think this way is more honest. At least, it fits better with how I understood the character.
For me, this plotline was the most interesting part of the issue, even though it was the B plotline. I enjoyed the way it toyed with expectations and recontextualized prior issues. That said, the A plotline was no slouch either, especially in terms of the art. I mentioned in our last review that Reynolds does his best work with high contrast sequences, and the pages with Joe fighting the rats and the man possessed by the outer dark would certainly support that argument, I think.
Continued belowChris: I could go on and on about Reynolds in this issue. Everything in the outer dark scene was beautiful. Panel to panel perspective would change from low to high angles fluidly. The entire altercation was well paced. The high point of Reynold’s art for me was the double page spread with Joe and rats. There were two memorable panels where the rats were shown in the foreground and Joe smaller in the background, with an angle looking up at Joe from the floor giving the feeling that he was surrounded.
Mark: I’ve been enjoying Reynolds’s art posts on Instagram and Twitter for some time. I don’t know if you’ve seen them, but he’s been putting up process images for the last two issues. I’m hoping many of them find their way into the next hardcover collection’s sketchbook section.
Chris: Definitely. Going back to the A plotline, there were a couple of things that transpired with the outer dark scene that jumped out at me.
First, I didn’t like how during the fight Joe threw an infected rat out the window. Since it was a big deal to burn the entire place down, I am a little curious if this battle is really over and suspicious that this was some kind of foreshadowing. Otherwise, I loved that Joe went for his lighter when he first saw the Nazi. Even though he offered to help him, Joe was ready to end it with fire. This really showed me that Joe is truly a well prepared occult detective (even given his bad memory).
Mark: That’s a good point about that rat. I hadn’t considered that.
Of course, there’s another thread we haven’t talked about yet, the 1454 plotline, which sees the golem losing his master, Goran, and setting off in the world alone to hunt witches. The golem is properly awake and aware now, not just doing the task it has been set, but recognizing it has its own agency. This has the potential to open up the flashback material in a big way.
Chris: Yeah, the loss of control of the golem is something I have been waiting to see happen for some time. The mythology of the golem itself tells that it cannot be controlled, and there has been foreshadowing that this was going to happen since the first issue of the series.
I have mentioned before that I typically notice underlying, parallel themes between what Joe is going through in modern day and what is happening with the golem in the 1400’s. This time however I can’t identify a theme, which gives me an ominous feeling that something happened during the outer dark fight scene that had a bigger impact on Joe than we truly understand.
All in all, I enjoyed that Golden ended this arc with the 1400s segue. If you remember the arc started with the golem in the 1400s, so it seems fitting that it ends the same way. Also, seeing the golem go rogue at the end comes off like an epilogue that will have bearing on next arc.
Mark: I expect these flashbacks will continue to bookend arcs for a while.
I suppose we should get to grading this one. I’m going to give it an 8. I enjoyed Reynolds’s work in the rat fight, and the way the reveal with Lori played out really elevated the issue for me.
Chris: I give this issue an 8. It had a strong end to the arc, unexpected character developments, and or course Reynolds’ art was top notch.
Final verdict: 8. “The Outer Dark” does some great things with the ongoing “Joe Golem” story, and opens up some very interesting avenues to explore in future arcs.
