After reading the first issue of Fallen Angel, I get the sense that there's a lot more beneath the surface that we're not seeing yet. I wonder if the tip of the iceberg we've seen will be enough to draw readers' interests, though. To be sure, Fallen Angel has a lot going for it, including a darker tone than I'm used to from Peter David, some very effective artwork from Lopez and Blanco and an interesting setting in the fictional city of Bete Noire. It is also a setting and premise that thrives on mystery, from the mysteries of identity surrounding the lead character and her antagonists and allies to the mystery of how a city like Bete Noire came to be. Chalk this one up as a book with lots of potential, but it hasn't quite grabbed me yet.
David opens the book with an introduction to our mysterious protagonist, and I can't deny that there's something compelling about her. It's not just Lopez's visual, which is a deceptively simple redhead in a cloak with piercing eyes, but the way she is spoken of in her place of business or the confident way she carries herself. The first time we see her, she uses impossibly keen senses and undefined abilities (telekinesis?) to avoid a sniper attack and warn the man behind it against doing such things again. She's a strong heroine, a laconic tough guy like Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca and a mysterious mercenary who helps the downtrodden right out of a noir flick.
Noir is definitely one of the influences here... not just in the name of the city, but in the general approach. The Fallen Angel's goal doesn't seem to be saving the world or even the city, but helping a couple of people out in small, almost insignificant ways. The darkness that tinges the book is refreshing, not because grim and gritty is hard to find in comics these days, but because too few people are able to make a book dark without making it just depressing or pointlessly nihilistic. David tinges Bete Noire and its inhabitants with darkness, but there's a sense that the Fallen Angel is a potential light in all this darkness, and she might not be a wholly idealistic person, but she represents an obstacle for the darker forces that seemingly rule the city.
There are plenty of mysteries here, and some of them go a little too far in being mysterious, straining credibility. I'm hoping that Lee's revelations that "there are no police in Bete Noire" is hyperbole or a lack of faith in a corrupt institution rather than the literal truth, because it strikes me as too unbelievable an element, even in such a fantasy-rich setting as the DC Universe. In addition, the mysterious protagonist bit leads itself to a somewhat unknowable lead character, and while I like what we've seen of Lee, I do have a lot of questions which could get frustrating if let unknown for too long.
However, these mysteries could just as well turn out to be a boon as a drawback. Certainly the big mysteries, like the surprise twist at the end, are crucial to understanding the lead character and her antagonist. And smaller enigmas intrigue me as well. In particular, given Dolf's germanic heritage, the name of his bar and his list of professions, one very strange notion about his identity comes to mind. And if it's true, than Bete Noire may not be the physical place it seems to be, but perhaps an afterlife or place for ghosts or something along those lines. Given the somewhat spooky, unreal nature of the place, I think such a thing is possible, and I'm certainly curious enough to come back and find out.
