The Private Eye takes place in 2076, five years after "the flood", when everything stored in the Cloud gets leaked, putting everyone's pictures, messages and searches out for public scrutiny. People lost their jobs, marriages were ruined and the world changed forever. In this brave new world, everyone has a secret identity (often several) that they use along with an exotic mask when doing anything that they don't want to be directly associated with. Much in the same way you may open up an incognito tab when you don't want something to be on your account. Our tour guide through his oddly familiar world is a Private Investigator who finds himself entwined in a mystery leading to a terror group with scary plans. There are more details, of course, but I'll leave them for you to slowly put together.
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| The Private Eye - Volume 1 |
The Private Eye caught me off guard. I was expecting a middle of the road story that would leave me sufficiently whelmed, however this went above and beyond. The book kind of throws you into the story with no warning so be prepared to be scratching your chin for the first couple of chapters, but it soon makes sense and the puzzle starts coming together. This webcomic is a melting pot of good ideas that make it a blast to read through. As you absorb all the details in the beautifully drawn panels, you start to understand the way this colorful, gritty noir world functions. 2076 California is very believable and I wouldn't be surprised if, as I'm writing this, a white light appears with an oddly dressed man warning me that I am right and that this is the future of our civilization and that Lois is in fact the key. The only downside to this is that I wish there was more of it, but unfortunately it's only a 10 issue webcomic run and there doesn't seem to be any more on the horizon.
The cast of characters is also great at setting the tone for the story. At the beginning, sure, it does leave the main character "in the shadows" regarding the backstory. But Volume 2 sees some well-needed, well-written and well-drawn character development that helps ground the otherwise mysterious character. Actually, all of the characters in the comic are well developed in their own way and their motives are well realized. With that said it's not hard to say that my favorite character was Gramps, the character that most readers will connect with because he's basically the readers...but old. (Also I am well aware that I used a lot of "well" so feel free to turn into a game to aid in your obsession with drinking...water.)
However, I'm not gonna sit here and say that it is perfect or that it hits a home run on every front. Instead, The Private Eye knows what it is and it does it well. As the story slowly unravels, there are more mysteries that open up and you're able to understand where this world is in terms of our own. This does sometimes leave more questions than answers, but the rate of interesting events thrown at you in the story won't give you much time to linger. Then there's the length; 10 issues. I like that it's done so fast because sitting there waiting for another run to happen isn't that exciting to me. (That's why I wait for Telltale to release a disc pass and marathon an entire season instead of playing 2 hours every 2 months and then waiting for the next.) Plus the story lends itself well to binge reading and you can easily plow through the series in one sitting.
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| The Private Eye - Volume 1 |
Now if you'll notice, I did not mention who the author was yet* and the reason is because, going into it, I blew past the names myself. Until I got to Volume 2 I had no idea that The Private Eye was written by Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin and everything made sense. If you don't know about Brian K. Vaughan, he is the writer of some uber popular comics such as: Saga, Paper Girls, Pride of Baghdad and more. Marcos Martin, whose works I haven't read before, is a Spanish artist who has worked on some Marvel projects in the past, more newly, Superior Spiderman, and, the recently concluded, Barrier. With the team's history in mind, it's no surprise that The Private Eye is so enjoyable when such experienced writers and artists created it.
I also do want to take a second to talk about Panel Syndicate. For those who do not know about it, it is a website dedicated to providing digital comic books with the "Name Your Price" pay model where you can give as much or as little (or none) as you want for the books. Even if you get them for free at first the content they are so good that you should definitely go back and toss in what you think it deserves. This great online publisher was created by Marcos Martin and it is an amazing idea. Not only does this ensure that all of the money goes to the creators, it also helps bring down the cost of the otherwise expensive hobby of comic book reading and collecting. Speaking for myself, one of the things that kept me away from comics for so long was the fact that they are so expensive. Yes, I am aware that libraries exist. But I like to have the satisfaction of having it on my shelf (physically or digitally). Along with this great concept, the site is home for some awesome comics like 2017 Eisner Award Nominee UNIVERSE!, The Private Eye and, from the same creators, Barrier. (I have read Barrier and may talk about it in a later article, but for now know that it is really good.)
In the end, The Private Eye is well worth the read. It provides a palpable world for you to get lost in as you follow the story of a mysterious P.I. and his acquaintances. It's full of interesting twists and surprising moments accompanied with beautiful visuals that are full of detail. Whether you are an avid reader of the "funny books", like Greg and Tim at Kinda Funny, or the new born baby in this colorful world, like myself, The Private Eye is short enough to not be daunting and deep enough to dive in head first.
*My OCD won't let me not have the author in the title for more than a week, so if there's a name in the title then you're just late to the game.
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