The Fade Out, Act Two

The rabbit hole of depravity and sin that is Hollywood, circa 1948, just gets deeper in this latest volume from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.  How bad are things there?  The best decision in Act Two appears to be former child star/current jazz trumpet player Jack Jones’ statement to screenwriter/very amateur investigator Charlie Parrish that he wants to stop talking about the history of murdered starlet Valeria Sommers because “That’s some depressing shit.”  This is as Charlie gets romantically involved with Val’s replacement, Maya Silver, starts arguing with his partner Gil Mason, and comes face-to-face with the horn-rimmed-glasses-wearing producer who may have had a hand in Val’s death.  None of these things are good for the character, but being a writer he can’t help but be drawn in by the story unfolding here.

Same goes for me as well.  This second volume doesn’t offer any major revelations or insights into the core murder mystery, yet that’s not really a problem.  “The Fade Out” continues to offer a rich noir world fully realized by its creators.  All of the characters are compromised in some way, it’s just a matter of how they deal with it that matters.  Charlie has this mystery to solve. Studio security chief Brodsky has an interesting way of rationalizing the violence he uses to keep the talent in line.  Maya may have forsaken who she was in exchange for stardom, but it’s a decision she’s committed to.  Then there’s Gil, brought in on this mystery in a moment of weakness by Charlie.  He’s determined to bust it open in the tradition of a private investigator fighting against the system — with unwitting help from Dashiell Hammet, no less.  The volume ends on a note that has the potential to make the relationship between Gil and Charlie combustible and let the bad guys know exactly who’s onto them.  It’s a development that should kick the final act into high gear and with the potential to make the final volume a must-read when it arrives next year.