Fell Volume 1: Feral City

Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith have been around awhile. Warren is famous for his over the top horror and thriller type comics and Ben got famous for his incredible art with the original 30 Days of Night. And while this book has no vampires it has everything you would come to expect from these two masters. Warren delivers a great tale or I should say tales of Detective Fell and Ben creates his world with incredible art. When you have two master come together like this it's amazing what happens. I won't spoil the story lines I'm sure someone else will do that or has done that. If you enjoy Stephen King, Dean Koontz, or Chuck Palanuik you will most definately enjoy this graphic novel. Engrossing and at time nauseating you won't be disappointed.

With all the other praises to look at, I can't add anything new or of additional value. All I can say; This is a perfect comic book. Highly recommended. SC

To start, I am not a comics expert. I had been going to the local comics store with my son and ran across the first issue of this series. I was hooked. I couldn't wait for the next installment. Now, all of them are in one volume and make a great gift ... for someone else or for yourself. Quick reading, but also imaginative enough that you can take your time and really immerse yourself into Detective Fell's life and world. Good stuff.

With Fell writer Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, The Authority) and artist Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night) have created a dark and eerie mindscape called Snowtown, a twisted part of some larger city that exists "across the bridge," a city which is only hinted at but never elaborated upon in the stories. What the reader immediately comes to realise is that Detective Richard Fell, the main character, has been given little choice in the matter of becoming Snowtown's newest detective, and must deal with crimes both strange and shocking on a daily basis, which puts his remarkable detective skills to the test in every stand-alone issue. Brilliantly written by Warren Ellis, the stories are often bizarre and gruesome, but not over-the-top, and Templesmith's art complements these sinister tales nicely. There is nothing supernatural about these stories, yet the reader gets the sense that some larger power (dare I say Lovecraftian?) is looming in the shadows, causing the evil that permeates every alley of Snowtown. Its not all about detective work either. There are times when Fell has to get hands-on with some of the perps and what follows are violent action scenes rendered splendidly by Templesmith' s use of blurred images that does not detract from the clarity of his panels. True, he is not known as a highly detailed artist, but some panels are remarkable because they require small details (like any detective novel or comic) and Templesmith shows that he is up to the challenge of conveying them to the reader. My favorite story is the last one contained in this volume, which gives the reader a view of Snowtown through the journal/diary entries of Detective Fell, and all the horrible things that can happen there in a single night. Awesome book. I recommend it to anyone who loves horror/mystery comics, or just plain anyone who has never read a comic before and finds the idea of superheroes just a little bit silly. Pick up Fell: Feral City. You won't be disappointed! (I should mention though, that I still love the silliness of superhero comics...)