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A town falls into a sink whole, which then closes and the whole world starts to forget that it ever happened. Sounds simple, right? Well, there’s a little more to it than that, and The Displaced #1 only sets the stage for this tremendous story to play itself out. Ed Brisson and Luca Casalanguida present us with a group of characters that have nothing in common except that they are from the town of Oshawa, Ontario…which no longer exists. How do they reconcile that?
- Written by Ed Brisson
- Art by Luca Casalanguida
- Colors by Dee Cunniffe
- Letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
“Don’t you know you can’t go home again?”
– Ella Winter; as made famous by Thomas Wolfe
There’s More To The Displaced Story
Immediately upon reading I got the same vibe as Brisson’s book Beyond The Breach. Ordinary people going through a stressful or traumatic life situation have an unexplained phenomenon thrust upon them and they must quickly adapt to survive or, in this particular case, they risk being forgotten.
As with most stories, there’s a metaphor here that reflects what’s happening in the real world. Brisson lays it out for us when this book was announced in an interview, “It’s a story about the churn of media and the victims who quite literally become forgotten as the world moves to the next big story.”
Who Are The Displaced?
This first issue focuses on establishing the main cast of characters for the journey to come. Harold, a mysterious old man with knowledge of what’s happening, Gabby, a new mother who was just out getting diapers in the middle of the night, and Emmett, who is driving home after learning that his father has had a stroke. Harold initiates the chance meeting by blocking the road to Oshawa and setting it ablaze. Emmett stops first to check out what’s happening, when Gabby rear ends his car. In the chaos of this, the ground shakes and the town they are from is just a massive dark pit. Everything and everyone they know is gone in an instant.
The way Brisson sets up each of these characters is so well executed, or at least in the case of Emmett and Gabby. We get to see what their life looks like right now, in the moment. Through that lens of their day to day habits, and obstacles in life, we get a real sense of who they are and they come off as very relatable. The wild card here though, is Harold. We no nothing about Harold except that he knows what’s happening, from personal experience, and he wants to stop it.
The Proper Placement of Art and Color
Luca Casalanguida art work brings a sort of “cement”, so to speak, that bonds the bricks that Brisson lays. Together they build a a great foundation. The action panels are engaging, the crowd scenes are detailed without losing the beautiful simplicity of the people. Luca handles depth and angles with ease, making every scene interesting to look at.
Now what’s great artwork without color? If you don’t know Dee Cunniffe, he’s got quite the resume, most notably, Crossover (BIG FAN). What I love about his work is the perfect blend of cool and warm colors that transition and blend so seamlessly. The effect of light on those colors are so subtle. It feels so much like an orchestra rising and lowering their volume in perfect sync to elicit emotions at just the right time.
Everything Points To 9/10
I’m loving the premise and the character development already. This massive catastrophic event switched something in Emmett and Gabby that made them grow in a matter of pages. Everything story wise is executed with a real sense of building to something even bigger, and that’s exciting! Add on top of that artwork that gives off a feeling of familiarity and movement, and the colors to elevate that to an emotional response and we’ve got a real chance at something special developing!
Have you read The Displaced yet? What did you think? Let’s discuss!
