Green Wake, Volume One

written by Kurtis Wiebe
art by Riley Rossmo

Frogs have never been quite so ominous.  After an accident for which he feels responsible kills his wife, Morley Mack finds himself disappeared into Green Wake by a swarm of smothering amphibians.  It's dreary, often raining, and always night.  It's residents rarely talk to one another, preferring to retreat into themselves, hide from each other, and guard their dark secrets, turning slowly into the frogs abundant in the place until they are cannibalized by Green Wake's other residents.

Mack and his friend Krieger have adopted the task of welcoming new arrivals and taking care of the population as best they can, a kind of impromptu police partnership in a city without institutional structures.  As such, they happen upon the first murders in living memory in Green Wake, each more gruesome than the last.  Seemingly perpetrated by fiery-headed Ariel but suggestively coinciding with the arrival of her former lover Carl, their investigation leads Mack and Krieger on a journey into their own pasts, particularly Mack, who's always been more curious than the other residents about Green Wake's purpose and meaning.

Ultimately, the city of Green Wake is both a manifest metaphor for the grief of guilt and loss as well as an actual place, a supernatural place/creature that feeds on the trauma of its residents.  Morley is both in a place of his own creation, perpetually supplied with his favorite brand of cigarettes by his own will, and in a place co-habitated by others, including his friend and fellow self-appointed investigator Krieger.  The details of how Green Wake works are only partially answered in its opening arc, and it's just possible that Wiebe himself isn't entirely clear on the subject, but Green Wake's atmosphere is perfectly so and far more thematically significant than the rules of the world-building.

Artist and colorist Riley Rossmo's contribution to Green Wake's success cannot be overstated.  Quite simply, it's beautiful.  Dark, dreary, splotched with ink and scratched up, and beautiful.  Rossmo's liberal use of impressionistic chiaroscuro, partially defined lines, and minimal incorporation of strong color perfectly captures the psychedelic-noir tone of the series.

Collects Green Wake #1-5
ISBN:  978-1607064329