Two-in-One Review: Between The Cracks Harris O'Malley shares three stories from Between The Cracks, and Don and Randy take a look. Randy: Amongst my mail in the last few months (I'm way behind on these things, sorry about that) there were three black-and-white comics made of stapled, folded 11x17 paper. Mini-comics, essentially. Within these three mini-comics, which comprise three of a four-part mini-series, are three strange self-contained stories by Harris O'Malley. Don: Making my way through these three mini-comics turned out to be a surprising experience. O'Malley took me off-guard with his haunting storytelling and strong characterization. Between The Cracks #1-3 published by Studio Underhill Inc. written and illustrated by Harris O'Malley Don: A girl without a name, without a past, without a home, finds herself on the street, approached by strangers... some with good intentions, and others with darker thoughts on their minds. A graphic designer who's been waiting for the perfect woman to enter his life finally gets his wish... but his new love keeps a part of herself hidden away from him. And a young woman who's fulfilled her family's dreams by going to college meets a charming and mysterious busker. Randy: There's a pretty interesting diversity of material in the first three issues of Between The Cracks, and though I wasn't sure upon reading them at first, I'm sure now that they have nothing to do with one another. Instead, O'Malley is taking a neat idea in each issue and running with it for 32 pages. Each story has something about it that didn't quite sit right with me, but each story also has at least one thing that I thought was absolutely brilliant. Don: Between the Cracks is something like The Outer Limits, but it's far more serene and reflective. The plots involve supernatural and horror elements, but the main drive of each separate story is to explore the characters. O'Malley explores the dark and desperate corners of the human heart in the first issue, and in the second and third, there's a everyday and universal quality to the characters that makes it easy to relate to them. There's a creepy undercurrent running through each story, but it's always a little different as well. O'Malley explores the periphery of various genres here, and despite the rudimentary nature of his publications, it's clear that he's an excellent storyteller. Randy: O'Malley's ideas are interesting jumping-off points, and I like that he ranges all over reality and fantasy in his approach. The first story posits a female Frankenstein's monster and then throws her into an all-too-real street life, allowing him to do the story of a corruption of innocence in a fairly new way without involving real children and making the thing just too depressing to even read. The second story is even closer to reality, focusing on an unusual romance and the difficulties in it, and closing with an eerie, horrific ending. And the third story is completely out there, involving Faeries and stolen souls but still coming across as real enough thanks to the script. The selling points of Between The Cracks are the dialogue and characterization. It's shown off especially in the second story, where a believable friendship develops between Grant and Jack and a sweet but slightly off-kilter relationship develops between Erin and Grant. But the dialogue that stands out as both realistic enough and yet stylized enough to be interesting is at play in all three issues, including some real creeps in the first issue and a charismatic bastard and smart but still vulnerable young woman in issue three. Don: We agree on the script and characters. O'Malley's ear for genuine voices shines through, but flair and a lyrical quality creep into his script as well, tempering the everyday tone of the story with a more dramatic, thoughtful atmosphere. We also agree that the second issue -- "Still Waters" -- is the strongest of the three, mainly because it's so easy to see one's own insecurities in Grant's mishandling of his relationship. Randy: On the other hand, the weak point of Between The Cracks is the artwork, and it seems pretty clear that O'Malley is a writer first and artist second. The art tells the story well enough, but it lacks detail, especially in the often-blank backgrounds, and the computer-manipulated imagery just didn't work for me at all. It came off as artificial, standing out from the rest of the book, and given that Between The Cracks draws the reader into the world so well with the writing, I was sorry that the art at times seemed determined to kick them back out again. Don: On this point, we do not agree. Sure, there's a raw quality to O'Malley's linework, but he maintains a dark, foreboding atmosphere incredibly well, and for the most part, he seems to have a strong eye for anatomy. The characters seem like real people. I liked the overlapping of traditional comic art with digital imagery as well, and I was surprised at how well it comes through, subtleties and all, despite the rough quality of the mini-comic format. I think we can both agree, though, that O'Malley is a comic creator worth watching for. Like J. (Days Like This Torres and Tom (True Story Swear to God) Beland, I have no doubt that he'll be able to turn enough heads to make the leap from mini-comics to the more traditional formats in wider distribution. For more information on Between The Cracks, visit Studio Underhill. Email Randy and Don comments about this review.