Fairlady #1
Publisher: Image
Story: Brian Schirmer
Pencils: Claudia Balboni
Inks: Claudia Balboni
Colors: Marissa Louise
Letters: David Bowman
Covers: Claudia Balbonia, Marrisa Louise; Tula Lotay
A new fantasy detective story by Image comics, the first issue of Fairlady features the story, “The Case of the Blue Rock,” and sets up an intriguing and imaginative fantasy world set mainly in the town of The Feld, which appears to be built on the remains of some kind of ancient godlike being. The characters are living in a post-war world, and dealing with the repercussions of soldiers who are no longer needed seeking to find their place in the world.
Jenner Faulds is one such character, but she takes a unique path by becoming the first female “Fairman” (or Fairlady, in her case) – a licensed investigator, a new role developed by former soldiers in post-war society. Faulds is a unique character, setting herself as the private security for an eccentric wizard in his tower, and in her downtime, taking on investigator cases that no one else cares about.
All of this is conveyed quickly in a few lines of background on the inside front cover, providing the barest of backgrounds before jumping right into the tale and introducing the main character and her cohort, an anthropomorphic catlike character, as they try to get information from a potential lead for a case they are working. Faulds is shown as quick-witted, no-nonsense, and willing to use her cohort to intimidate anybody she needs to accomplish her goals.
Faulds’ characterization is developed from a sense of her inner-strength and her complex set of morality – she clearly has a bit of a mercenary streak to her and therefore her world-view is colored more by shades of gray than black-and-white, yet deep down she wants to the right thing. She’s feminine but not an object to be sexualized, which is refreshing in comics which often resort to female characters being overly sexual in appearance and behavior. Image Comics bucks this trend with strong female characters such as Forever Carlyle from Lazarus and Captain Rook from Isola. An interesting note is that in the prelude to the comic on the first page, it’s pointed out the Faulds is the only female investigator in the world, and yet this twist does not seem to impact the story at all, unless it’s implied via the clients Fauld gets, who seem to fall toward the unsavory parts of society.
The shades of gray morality of Faulds means that the comic explores areas of a world not typically portrayed in a typical fantasy story. Instead of knights in shining armor and majestic castles overlooking lush green fields, the creative team instead deliver readers to the less honorable parts of society, including loan sharks, burglars for hire, and unscrupulous businessmen. It’s very much a gritty, noir private eye tale placed in a fantasy setting.
The setting itself is also unique – several maps in the issue illustrate the different parts of town and the areas just outside, but the overall sense, although not completely explained yet, is that in the recent past there was a great war, and one of the casualties was some type of giant creature, the remains of which are what the village of The Feld is built upon. The idea is unique and creative, and yet like much of the world-building in this issue, isn’t explained. The characters in this story live in the world, they don’t talk about it, and that’s refreshing given that many fantasy authors become so enamored of their worlds that they can’t stop themselves from providing pages of narration about the backstories they have created. Schirmer takes a different approach in Fairlady, presenting the world just as the people who live in it would see it, and then telling his story without any unnecessary explanation. This restraint helps keep the world mysterious and fantastical, but also helps propel the main narrative along at a good pace.
The storytelling is one of a standard police procedural, not too unlike a television series like “Law & Order” or (as Schirmer himself describes it), “Magnum P.I.,” with each issue acting as a self-contained episode. While in the future we may see some interconnections from issue to issue, for now each issue is described as containing “A Complete Fairlady Mystery.”
Artist Claudia Balboni, with colors by Marissa Louise, creates an inviting fantasy setting, with interesting character designs for the humans but also for unique creatures such as Fauld’s catlike companion and a pair of fish-men burglars. Balboni has a minimalist style, often eliminating the background entirely to provide focus on the characters, while other times providing a lot of details, such as a page showing Loop’s “laboratory,” which includes all sorts of bottles, trinkets, and other items hanging from the ceiling. The design for Jenner Fauld perfectly matches the character’s actions and behavior – she appears tough, no-nonsense, and practical in her dress and appearance, without using her femininity as a weapon or a crutch.
At the end of the story is another map of The Feld, with more detail than the one at the beginning of the story, along with two pages of “Case Notes” from a previous, unrelated case that provides more background on Fauld and her world. It’s a fun, and informative, “in-world” way to deliver more information to the reader about just the kind of person Jenner Fauld is.
Fairlady #1 is a good start to a creative concept of a private eye in a post-war fantasy world, and the premise that each issue is a “one-and-done” procedural investigation is unique among comics that typically rely on grand sweeping multi-issue arcs to tell their stories. Schirmer’s “show don’t tell” style allows him to get right to the mystery and investigation rather than getting bogged down in the world-building so common among fantasy titles. The series covers all the bases for readers interested in detective stories, fantasy fiction, and/or strong female characters, with enough teasers dropped to entice readers to continue coming back for more.
Martin Thomas
martin@comicattack.net
