I love Fade From Blue, but after reading Far From Saints, I find myself wondering more about the other ideas that Murphy has rattling about in his head, because this was a neat idea and a whole lot of fun. It has the same creative team as Fade From Blue, and Murphy refers to it as "the first true issue" in his introduction, but I don't honestly see a lot of similarity. Instead, what I see is an unusual science-fiction premise with the same strong characterization that Murphy has brought to Fade From Blue and the same distinctive characters and strong emotional storytelling that Dalrymple brings.
Far From Saints comes with a high concept that's hard to beat, and Murphy takes the ball and run with it. It's part time travel, part religion and a little bit of slice-of-life as well, and while the high concept deals with big huge ideas, it's played as a relatively small story. As with the other work I've read from Murphy, it's all about the characters, whether it's four sisters in Manhattan or a group of guys from different timelines in a backroom in the middle of nowhere. In particular, the story focuses on lead character Dorian, whose dead-end life has brought him to a new beginning.
Dorian is a fun point of view character, perhaps a little slow on the uptake but with a sarcastic wit and cunning that turns out to be pretty helpful. Murphy definitely plays him as an everyman, inviting the reader to put themselves in his place, and that makes the story more immediate, and the fantastic elements of the story more easy to swallow without losing the more mind-blowing aspects of them. There's also a delightful sense of humor at play, with the camaraderie of the guys and girls in the backroom reminding me of what you might find in a close-knit tavern among the regulars.
Dalrymple has a tough job ahead of him with Far From Saints, making the reader feel the more fantastic nature of the story while dealing in settings and costumes that are really fairly mundane. His designs for the characters are very important, especially Bijou and Sunday, and his command of facial expressions is absolutely crucial to telling the story. A lot of the comedy comes as much from the physical slapstick or the reactions of the characters as much as it does from the script.
Far From Saints is a one-shot story, and it works in that respect, as an introduction to the concept and a character-building exercise for Dorian. However, while the story is complete in one issue, it also has plenty of potential for future exploration, and I hope that Murphy and Dalrymple find time to return to it someday, because I'd certainly like to see more of these characters and their unusual day-to-day lives and jobs.
