Lie to everyone… except yourself.

Writer & Artist: Pezhmann Mokary
Publisher: Red Whale
Tall Shadows: The Narration of Trust and Betrayal 

There’s a scene in this story where one character states that another character ‘turned’ them into a monster. The utter lack of acceptance of their own choices, and the consequences of those actions is, frankly, fascinating and terrifying. This one moment tells you everything you need to know about how every character in the story ends up where they do.

Working backwards from the end we meet Harry, Katie and Sam. All three are trying to get something out of life. Stuck in a city that’s drowning in corruption on all fronts they are on various levels of the class system, yet all are intricately tied together, in ways that don’t realize.  Only one, however, takes the best opportunity of all the terrible options in front of them, and actually uses it to improve their life instead of delivering more evil into the world. As for the other two…well, you’ll see.

Pezhmann Mokary delivers an interesting noir book, which very much has the feel of an old Humphrey Bogart film. There were times my mind automatically placed actors in the roles of the characters of the story or saw how each panel could be framed if this story became live action. Which brings us to the art. At first I was put off by the artwork in this story, as at times it comes off sloppy and amateurish, however one of the things I truly did appreciate about the work is that the characters could be of any race or background due to the style of art. The lack of finish actually allows you to just be in the story itself. There is no added anything, no unnecessary panels. Each one tells an efficient story in itself, whether a character is in the scene or not.

Overall this is a dark book that ends the only way it could, giving us a wonderful study in relationships, lies and choice.

Four Seagulls out of Five