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Father Fred Enters the Black Barn in Gideon Falls #6

Gideon Falls has been Image Comics' smash hit of the year. No bulk buys from New York Comic Con needed for this baby. The first issue is a $20 book on eBay, and it's definitely topping critics' best-of-the-year lists.

Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, and Dave Stewart are telling a story of two places and two people: an urban story of a man obsessed with what he finds in the trash and his psychiatrist, who is trying to stop him; and a rural story of a priest sent to a community to find it best with murder, conspiracy, and a supernatural or extra-terrestrial vision of The Black Barn. The Black Barn is a building which appears when something terrible is happening — and it's the same building that our city dweller is trying to rebuild… very Jimmy's End/Black Lodge of it.

Today sees the release of issue #6, the end of the first chapter. In issue #5, the barn had appeared again, with the local sheriff racing into it after a murderer and Father Fred deciding to do the same.

What sets this apart from what would have been a gripping supernatural murder mystery is the approach to the comic book medium. With scenes akin to Grant Morrison and Chris Weston's Filth, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's We3, Alan Moore and JH Williams III's Promethea, and Chris Ware's Acme Novelty Library, the experience of the Black Barn and what it effects and shown in an extraordinarily deconstructed fashion. Decompressing small events to two dimension textures on three-dimensional objects. Joining the worlds together, wormholes stretching from one page of the comic to the other — and inviting the reader to fall in with them.

So in issue #6, Norton and Dr. Xu track down the exact location where Norton first appeared in the city as a little boy before being taken in. There they unearth new pieces to the puzzle and realize what it is that Norton's been "hunting" through the trash for all this time.

As the threads of Norton's mystery start coming together, Gideon Falls #6 very subtly hints at where Norton may have come from and how his story might be tied to the town of Gideon Falls. Do you have any theories on how he fits into all this?

Meanwhile, against Doc's warnings Father Fred makes a daring decision and readers are plunged into the true chaos of the Black Barn's presence. Exactly how checkered is Father Fred's past? 

What is the truth about the missing brother? Is the Black Barn alien, mystical or something else? Is Clara's opposition to Doc Sutton's theories teenage rebellion that has gone on too long? And who watches the Ploughmen? Feel free to weigh in in the comments… let's see if we can crowdsource this.

After all, we'll have to wait two bloody months until Gideon Falls #7 is out on October 7th to start Gideon Falls Chapter Two. If you haven't read you have until then to catch up. And for those who have, September will also bring Gideon Falls #1 Director's Cut, highlighting Sorrentino's artwork on the series.

GIDEON FALLS #6
(W) Jeff Lemire (A/CA) Andrea Sorrentino
"THE BLACK BARN": Conclusion-Father Fred enters The Black Barn on a daring rescue attempt but nothing can prepare him for the horrors within. Meanwhile Norton and Angie delve deeper into Norton's past and zero in on the secrets of the Barn. A 2018 Eisner Award nominee for Best Writer, JEFF LEMIRE! In Shops: Aug 15, 2018 SRP: $3.99

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