Red Handed

     I wrote about Matt Kindt's fantastic monthly comic Mind Mgmt last thanksgiving.  Mr. Kindt's newest graphic novel, Red Handed: The Fine Art of Strange Crimes, comes out in May and should absolutely not be missed.  Filled with vignettes that chronicle the bizarre crimes perpetrated in the small town of Red Wheelbarrow and the investigations of the maddeningly unfailing Detective Gould, Mr. Kindt produces something both strange and insightful, something that is filled with compelling psychological truth and a mounting and insurmountable sadness.
     A single glance at one of his gorgeously conceived pages offers a major clue to his success.  Figures are incredibly distinctive as visual characters and yet their outlines feel hazy and rough.  They look both achingly human, but are also slightly warped and unreal.  Foregrounded action is clear and attention-grabbing, while tiny mysteries are often scattered in the background.  Few storytellers working in the form are able to create such full engaging genre narratives while also exploring the nuances of human truth so powerfully.