Set in the late 1930s, Nathaniel Dusk is your typical hard boiled PI. Lots of divorce cases, not much money. Today hes just out for dinner, unaware that he’s being trailed by two thugs. But when they pick him up later and take him to a “meeting” atop the Empire State Building, his day gets a lot more interesting.
Greetings!
This week at DCUBC we are catching up with hard boiled private eye, Nathaniel Dusk in his very first appearance. This four issue mini is packed with noir goodness, and I can’t wait to hear what you think!
NOTE: We are reading the mini series from 1984, not the sequel mini series that began releasing a year after.
I’ve been interested in trying this out, especially since I do really love the crime/noir style of stories and I’ve been curious about these books since the character was used in Doomsday Clock.
Looks Marvel-ous, I’m in! Don McGregor kept me captivated in the 70s with Killraven, Black Panther and Sabre (although wow can he be wordy, at the time I loved it all though). Gene Colan is a magician, conjuring up the feeling I am watching a "film noir"with his smoky backgrounds and use of shade and smooth lines (Daredevil, Dracula).
Is this your first time reading Nathaniel Dusk (1984)?
Yep!
What did you think of the titular Private Eye?
I liked him – he felt refreshingly human and flawed, even more so than other non-powered DC heroes, because they shake off stuff that really messes Nate off (except the rat poison thing, that…that was a stretch).
The art in this book really stands out, what did you think of it?
I liked it. I’ve actually been reading a lot of Gene Colan’s art lately, because he was one of the main artists in Doug Moench’s Batman run in the 80s, which I’ve been reading for the Renegade Robins club. I’ve liked the art well enough there, but I feel like there were times in those stories where there would be some weird faces or off panels. Here it feels much cleaner and refined – I don’t know if maybe Colan had more time to work here, or if maybe the coloring kind of masked some of that a bit more, but it’s definitely some of his best 80s work.
What was your favorite page or panel?
I think I would go with Dusk trying to save himself from falling off the Empire State Building.
He has an amazing will to live! There were so many times where he could have died but he used willpower to push on. It was inspiring, I rooted for him. Also, he needs to fumigate his house. The roaches were way too chill, walking all over him.
The words were so descriptive, the art enhanced the words. I liked that it was rugged - it fit the tone of the story.
These two were my favorites:
I have never heard this expression “don’t soft-soap me”
One of the things I love about book clubs is that we get exposure to books we may not have heard of, or thought to try. For me, this is one of those books. Also, It didn’t feel like a typical comic. I could’ve read it without the art and it would’ve felt like a good mystery novel.
Oh yeah, that was definitely one of my favorite things about this series, was the authentic and beautifully written hard boiled/noir monologue, with it’s equal measure of cynicism and poetry.
He was an interesting character. He always seemed a step or two behind most of the story but came out on the winning side more than one should have. He has a will to get to the bottom of a case no matter what kind of trouble he is put in by his opponents.
Interesting art work not my favorite but works well with this kind of story. Very gritty and definitely has that 1930’s feel.
Favorite page was probably his confrontation of Oscar after the water ferry incident. I was not expecting Oscar to be the informant especially since Nathaniel was always asking about his son.
Another good read and probably one I wouldn’t have even thought of reading if it wasn’t for this club. Looking forward to seeing what other interesting picks you have in the coming weeks.