Compilation of the limited run published by Hard Case. Can Hard Case do wrong?
An extended riff on the 1970s films that played on HBO and cable during the late 1970s and into the 1980s. Or the older films you'd get from the video store. Post-Watergate paranoia films from the '70s. Titillation art films that were really just a step up from the grindhouse. Taxi Driver. Shampoo. Dressed to Kill. All the President's Men. Parallax View. Three Days of the Condor. The Conversation.
Normandy is a small town Sheriff in the Pacific Northwest. She gets a phone call from Lila, her long estranged sister, in Washington, D.C. telling Normandy how great things are going. As they speak Normandy hears a fight and a scream of "Noooooo!" (Yes, it was six "O"s. I counted them.) The reader, of course, sees the assault on the half naked Lila and a man's hand holding a hypodermic needle.
Normandy correctly fears the worse and heads straight for D.C. carrying her hunting knife. After a burst of anger against a sexist cop puts Normandy in a holding cell she speaks to the Detective investigating Lila. Normandy finds out Lila was working for a high end madame whose client list includes all the high level muckety-mucks of D.C.
Normandy starts looking for her sister and is rebuffed by the madame's receptionist. Instead she makes friends with a prostitute leaving the madame's office, double teams a john with the other woman, and gets a hooking job with the madame. Things move along as Normandy enters the party life and tries to track down who knew her sister and her sister's clients. Normandy also continues to talk to the Detective and we learn more and more about Normandy's tough background.
A fun book and a slide through D.C. sleaze of limo sex, swinger club sex, cocaine, political creeps, violence against women, double-crosses, and ubiquitous but hidden tape recorders.
Abbott and Gaylin credit some of the films - I listed a few above - that drove the story idea and even inspired the comic panels. I myself kept thinking of Parallax View as I read this. I saw that as a late night TV movie and it really stuck with me. For some reason the movie struck me as a reality based story and the paranoia and machinations of a deep state rang true. Americans love a conspiracy after all. That movie was my first introduction to sociopaths as well. Well, at least a discussion and explanation of the idea.
Comments:
1. I really enjoyed the illustrations.
2. Lots of nudity.
3. Normandy brandishes her hunting knife and stabs up a couple people. I've been looking online trying to decide on a fixed blade knife to use as a camping knife. I'd like to try a bushcraft trip where you use a knife of hatchet to make a shelter, build a fire, make your own cordage, etc. Of course I'd bring along a tent and regular gear in case I fail at the other stuff.
4. I'm just as likely to buy a $15 Mora as something for $75. My budget is below $100 but there are A LOT of neat knives in fancy steels for more money. I am being very indecisive. I'm getting to where I may put together a spreadsheet listing:
- steel type
- blade length
- handle length
- handle material
- blade grind
- blade thickness
- weight
- country of origin
- sheath style
- sheath material
- price
- shipping cost
- blah
- blah
- balh
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