Scott Snyder and Hayden Sherman’s Dark Spaces: Wildfire was an incredible debut for the Dark Spaces anthology line, seeking to tell dark, grounded, character-driven stories. The line gets its first expansion with this week’s Dark Spaces: Good Deeds #1 from writer Che Grayson, artist Kelsey Ramsay, colorist Ronda Pattison (who also worked on Wildfire), and letterer Shawn Lee. While this first issue suggests that Good Deeds will fit the Dark Spaces‘ stated narrative parameters, it’s a broad debut that lacks a defining hook, making overtures at themes to come rather than a strong argument for why readers should come back to find them.
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Dark Spaces: Good Deeds follows two separate protagonists. Readers first encounter Jean, a journalist desperately clinging to what remains of her career after a blunder five years ago tarnished her reputation. She is heading to St. Augustine, Florida, to write a puff piece for a travel agency’s blog covering the city’s 450th anniversary. Once there, she crosses paths with Cheyenne, a teenager who has only recently moved into the area with her single mother, taking over a run-down diner.
Good Deeds #1’s atmosphere is reminiscent of a particular brand of Vertigo Comics series from the early 2000s. It’s a grounded story, more or less in the crime genre, with a touch of the supernatural to add some urban fantasy flavor. The earthy color palette emphasizes the grounded aspects of that narrative blend, while the unruly linework accents that touch of magical realism. It all hangs together nicely, making the mundane feel a tad sinister, subtle facial expressions stand out, and the grisliness of its violence more tactile.
Good Deeds‘ story is ripe with overtures about St. Augustine’s long history as America’s oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States, founded atop supposedly uninhabited land. But colonist claims of finding pristine, vacant land to claim for are often suspect, and the trappings of colonialism are on full display throughout the issue, with two institutions bearing Ponce de Leon’s name and Cheyenne discovering a Spanish dollar. A spirit-like creature lurks on the periphery of everything throughout the story, which adds a surprising supernatural element.
The problem with the issue is that all we get are these overtures. It seems these creators want to broach the subject, but we don’t know yet what they have to say about it. Instead, the issue relies on familiar narrative beats to get the characters where they need to be for the real story to begin. Jean’s mysterious past, the mean lacrosse girls at Cheyenne’s school, and even the assault scene that closes out the issue all feel like they could have come from numerous other stories. The mysterious spirit is more specific to what’s happening here. However, it exists as much on the periphery of the narrative as it does on the outskirts of the characters’ perception, at least until the final page reveal, further delaying the story’s central thrust into future installments.
Despite that, it’s easy to sense that Good Deeds‘ creators have something to say, even if they are taking their time saying it. The visuals tell the story well, making even well-worn steps along the story’s path compelling to read. Anyone who misses that particular 21st-century Vertigo Comics flavor would do well to give Dark Spaces: Good Deeds #1 a look. For those less nostalgic for that method of storytelling, Dark Spaces: Good Deeds #1 is still a well-put-together comic book, even if it is mostly scene-setting. What comes next as Dark Space: Good Deeds continues will ultimately determine whether this introduction is worthwhile, but the chances seem good that’ll only get more interesting from here.
Published byย IDW Publishing
Onย May 17, 2023
Written byย Che Grayson
Art byย Kelsey Ramsay
Colors byย Ronda Pattison
Letters byย Shawn Lee
Cover byย Kelsey Ramsay
