Although I am an avid comic book reader - as misunderstood and misrepresented a genre as you are likely to find, tainted in the public's eye by cheesy, campy 60's stories featuring giant typewriters and kiddy stories - I admit to never having heard of Moonstone Noir's line until a copy of Stefan Petrucha's latest work fell in my hands.
If the reader is unfamiliar with the concept of noir comic books, I should make it clear it is by far not a novelty; Frank Miller has long established his Sin City line, in its natural black and white atmospheric magnificence. As a medium, it has proved itself to be quite appropriate, combining storytelling narrator techniques with long shadows and sharp contrasts of light and shadow to convey corrupt worlds and cruel moral depths.
Now, Boston Blackie is set in the '20's - a fine choice for a time period, where the concepts law and civilization were still co-existing with the baser elements of the human condition; sexual discrimination, racial (but mostly, social) injustices, and of course, the all important dollar lording its power and influence over those easily swayed by its lure.
Blackie is a thief; but he is a thief with ethics of his own. During a burglary attempt, something goes horribly wrong and he suffers an attack of opium haze which leaves an extremely valuable jewel missing, a young child gone, and himself in jail with no memory of what happened except for a terrible burden on his conscience of the possibility he might have committed murder under the drug's influence.
The storyline flows well; several characters are introduced during its course, from Blackie's wife Mary to a suffragette police detective who is fighting her own battles to be taken seriously in a man-dominated world without even the benefit of later-day legal protection against male intolerancy for females in such roles.
The reader is engaged in this world and its peculiarities, taken through strong pictures to follow the story's protagonist through his adventures and attempts for redemption. I had no problems handling either the characters or the setting despite never having even heard of Blackie before - I understand he was used in various incarnations, although I think this one suited him well as an ex-convict, former drug addict and overall between the worlds of law and crime.
The inevitable comparison takes place when Boston Blackie is compared to the contemporary works such as Sin City; it is then that it fails, mainly due to the artwork that is often good and suitable but rarely boosts the story sufficiently by itself. It works, but it does not elevate, the book itself lacking the edge it could have have in this case. Alas, it is quite an unfair comparison to make though, Sin City's imaginary being a punch to the stomach and a masterpiece of comic book pacing and atmosphere, so it should only count as a disadvantage if all that is taken under consideration.
I can suggest this for the comic book fan or the reader who wants to read a comic without spandex-clad superheroes nuking it out in the skies. A sound work that shows much research has taken place before it could be published, and one that would easily - and hopefully - be followed by a sequel.
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