Friday, Book Two: On a Cold Winter's Night

With the second collection (collecting chapters 4 through 6 of the series), author Ed Brubaker and artist Marcos Martin continue the story of the jaded young Friday Fitzhugh, the girl detective who returns home to find her partner in crime-solving, Lancelot Jones, has been working on a case of his own - one that definitely had deadly consequences.  It's been over two years since I read the first book, and so I had to take a quick re-read of the first volume in order to refresh my memory.  At the end of the first collection, Friday was shocked to discover that Lancelot had been killed - the smartest boy in the world lay dead in the burning building, and there was nothing she could do to save him.  But here, in book two, Friday decides that if she could not save her best friend, then the least she could do is solve the mystery he was working on.

On a Cold Winter's Night picks up shortly after the end of the last chapter.  Friday is still trying to make sense of Lancelot's death, but it is not until her ex-boyfriend, Danny Buttons, reveals that the police are ruling his death an accident and closing the case.  Say what?!?!  The smartest boy in the world was experimenting with something and "accidentally" killed himself?  Friday does not believe that for a minute, and as she soon finds out, neither does the sheriff - but the county detective made a compelling case, basically shutting it down, no questions asked.  Well, that's enough to get Friday moving, and although she has no clue what case he was working on, she is determined to get to the bottom of it.  And when Lancelot's father hands her a wrapped Christmas present, left under the Jones' tree for Friday, she knows she holds in her hands the very thing she needs to uncover the truth behind his death.

Brubaker definitely pushes the story forward in this volume, as the reader (along with Friday) discovers there are definite supernatural elements at work, and there are some very dangerous people right under the townspeople's noses.  And remember how Friday got knocked out at the end of the first volume, right after she saw someone outside the treehouse?  Well, we find out who that "someone" is, and let me tell you - it's not at all who you will be expecting!  I was very much surprised by this twist, and I'll be curious to see where Brubaker takes the story from here. 

Martin's art is a bit more colorful in this volume (I don't remember there being so much color in the first book), and some of his pages just really stand out - such as the one where Friday opens the Christmas present from Lancelot and the reader sees Friday holding that present - yes, it's a full page splash, but that simple image holds a lot of power in it, as it impacts not only Friday, but for the reader, it reinforces the fact that Lancelot is gone for good, and now it's up to Friday to uncover the truth.  It's almost like seeing a final scene of an episode that leaves the viewer anxiously waiting for the next week's episode - but thankfully, I didn't have to wait a week - I could just turn the page to keep on reading!  And yes, once the supernatural elements in the story showed up, there were definitely some crazy stuff, but Martin handles it well - even the two page spread on 110-11 that reminds me so much of ... well, no, that would be giving it away (let's just say James Darren, Robert Colbert, and Lee Meriwether would probably recognize the homage on those pages...).

I'm anxious for the pace to pick up a bit now ... the first two books only encompass the span of a few days, so we know it's going to take much longer for Friday to get the bottom of things and solve this case.  Brubaker is an excellent writer, so I have no doubt he has the whole thing planned out, but I can't help hoping this first story does not keep going indefinitely, as I'd like to see Friday move on to some other cases (at least - I hope Brubaker has plans for more cases after this one!).  Friday Fitzhugh is a creative new take on the whole young girl detective genre, and I would hate to see it come to an end after this first story is resolved.

Now to impatiently wait for book three...

RATING:  9 well-hidden watches out of 10 for a story filled with some completely unexpected twists and turns and leave you wondering what could possibly happen next!

Friday, Book One: The First Day of Christmas

I am very familiar with the name Ed Brubaker when it comes to comic books.  He is known for his crime story comics (such as Criminal, Fatale, etc.), but quite honestly, I've never read any of his work. I just recognize the name.  But when I saw this graphic novel solicited in Previews some months back, I didn't even pay attention to who was writing or drawing it.  I simply saw the description about a teenage girl who goes back to her hometown where she used to solve mysteries with her best friend, and I was hooked.  A sort-of "Nancy Drew grows up and goes back home" type of tale is something that's just too good for me to pass up.  So, I ordered it.

Friday, Book One: The First Day of Christmas collects the first three chapters of this story.  Friday Fitzhugh is an eighteen-year old college student with red hair (sound familiar?) and glasses who has returned to Kings Hill after completing her first semester of college.  Friday spent her teen years in Kings Hill, where she met her best friend, Lancelot Jones (a combination of "Lancelot" Link and Jupiter "Jones" perhaps?), and together the two of them solved a lot of mysteries, such as "The Case of the Magic Gauntlet," "The Legend of the Lime Cave," "The Secret Beneath Arcadian Hall," "The Revenge of the Sea Maiden," "Night of the Teenage Crime Wave," and "The Curse of the Viking Helm," to name a few.  And the manner in which Marcos Martin, the artist for this book, displays these past mysteries over two two-page spreads is magnificent!  Between the title themselves and the faux book covers, Brubaker and Martin pay beautiful homage to the children's mystery series of the '60s and '70s, and I would love more than anything to read these stories - and in case anyone was wondering, this takes place in the mid-'70s (as one of the panels from her senior prom shows a banner in the background that says "Class of '73").

But this story is not your standard teenage mystery.  Brubaker brings in not only some supernatural elements, but also some very human elements to give the story a very Gothic feel.  There are constant hints of supernatural, without being overtly so, and the emotional drama is sometimes more powerful than the creeps in the night.  For it seems that Friday left Kings Hill to go to college on a sour note.  Something happened between her and Lancelot, and try as she might upon her return, she can't seem to find a moment to talk to him about it.  As soon as she arrives in her old hometown, Lancelot and Sheriff Bixby (is his first name Bill?) pull her into the latest mystery.  The younger son of the town's richest family has stolen an ancient knife, and it has somehow affected his mind.  He has run off into the woods, muttering something about "the White Lady" and trying to carve symbols into a tree deep in the woods.  Lancelot and the Sheriff leave Friday at the hospital while they go to take care of something ... but Friday is left with the feeling that she should know what this "White Lady is" - but why can't she remember?

Shadowy figures in the woods.  Strange visions and haunting dreams.  Possessed men speaking in riddles.  Secrets kept from loved ones.  A town full of dark legends. And mysteries of the past coming back to create havoc in the present. Brubaker succeeds in creating a story that is "Gothic but grounded" as he says in the afterward at the end of the graphic novel.  And the ending of Chapter Three (which is where this novel leaves off) - wow!  A heart-wrenching cliffhanger that definitely leaves the reader wanting for more!  (I supposed I could go online and read Chapter Four, since this is a digital comic that is later collected, but why spoil the fun?  After all, anticipation of what is to come is half the fun!) 

A superbly written and drawn story that I would highly recommend!  I'm just left wondering how long it's going to be before Book Two of Friday comes out!

RATING:  10 classic ice-balls out of 10 for a surprising mix of mystery, supernatural, suspense, and emotion all rolled into one for a wonderful tale of a teen detective growing up!