Saturday, February 18, 2012

Potter's Field by Mark Waid (Author) and Paul Azaceta (Illustrator)

A potter's field is a term for burial places for unknown persons. The term has it's roots in the 27th chapter of Matthew. The basic premise of this graphic novel centers around a potter's field outside of New York City. An anti-hero going by the name John Doe aims to solve the murders of the unknown. He does not work alone, but has a loose network of people helping him, including members of the New York City Police Department.

I was immediately taken with the premise of Potter's Field. There were great storylines that intertwined in interesting ways. The artwork was... cool, for lack of a better word. The problem for me was that there was not nearly enough character development. There is never any explanation of why all these various people work for Doe or what made him commit himself to bringing a measure of justice to the unknown dead. To me, there were the most interesting mysteries of this novel, and they went unsolved.

3 comments:

Carlton Farmer said...

hat trick

Nathan said...

oh my god i've been to the potter's field outside new york.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart_Island,_New_York

one of the most eerily beautiful places i've ever been to. there's an abandoned community that served as an extension of the prison system for adolescent boys. every building has all manner of trees growing through the floorboards and whatnot. we asked the officer who took us around (we were contracted to re-do a garden there) if he'd ever been there overnight. he looked me in the eye and said "son, if i was ever on this island after the sun went down, i would swim back to shore."

Carlton Farmer said...

That is the best story ever, Nathan!