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Vertigo Crime
Fogtown
A gritty, graphic pulp fiction about the temptation, damnation and redemption of Frank Grissel, an aging, hard-knuckled private eye--and a deeply closeted homosexual, set in the very real world of 1953 San Francisco.
Aided by his long-suffering secretary (and sometime live-in lover) Loretta, Grissel's search for a runaway girl winds up with him becoming a suspect in a string of gruesome murders. The case takes twists and turns through the Golden Gate's greasy the beguiling arms of Chinese shipping heiress (and smuggler) Lady Tze; an unexpected reunion with Betty Grey, the daughter he abandoned long ago; the loss of Loretta to the sadistic clutches of the high-powered "Colonel;" and finally the horrifying gender-bending truth about the runaway and the murders and all those missing organs. Frank also confronts his own "horrifying truth," earning his daughter's forgiveness and, perhaps, the love of another man.
Aided by his long-suffering secretary (and sometime live-in lover) Loretta, Grissel's search for a runaway girl winds up with him becoming a suspect in a string of gruesome murders. The case takes twists and turns through the Golden Gate's greasy the beguiling arms of Chinese shipping heiress (and smuggler) Lady Tze; an unexpected reunion with Betty Grey, the daughter he abandoned long ago; the loss of Loretta to the sadistic clutches of the high-powered "Colonel;" and finally the horrifying gender-bending truth about the runaway and the murders and all those missing organs. Frank also confronts his own "horrifying truth," earning his daughter's forgiveness and, perhaps, the love of another man.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published August 10, 2010
About the author
Andersen Gabrych
68 books13 followersAndersen Gabrych is a Northern California native. He’s written Detective Comics, Batman, Batgirl, Catwoman, and Omega Men for DC Comics, and is the author of the original graphic novel, Fog Town.
As an actor he appeared most notably in the award-winning Edge of Seventeen and at HBO’s Aspen Comedy Festival. He currently lives in L.A. with his cat, Moses, and is the co-creator of Pyrasphere, “Hollywood’s fastest growing new religion,” and the subsequent documentary Bright Day! about this fictitious spiritual movement.
As an actor he appeared most notably in the award-winning Edge of Seventeen and at HBO’s Aspen Comedy Festival. He currently lives in L.A. with his cat, Moses, and is the co-creator of Pyrasphere, “Hollywood’s fastest growing new religion,” and the subsequent documentary Bright Day! about this fictitious spiritual movement.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
February 15, 2024
1953: San Francisco - a down and out private eye - a truly original GN! Really takes you back to the time and place where private detectives were the choice of many who did not want to get (officially) involved with law enforcement. Several twists and turns (and one really big turn at the end) will keep you on the edge of your seat. A great read for a foggy San Franciscan night!
May 27, 2019
Fogtown is a hard boiled graphic novel, heavy with genre troupes. The art matches the tone; dark inks in black and white, femme fatales drawn with a sexy and dangerous intensity which ooze sensuality, and a protagonist of the muscle bound, chiseled jaw stereotype. Like the story, any notion of shades of grey is an abstract concept.
The 1953 period setting in San Francisco plays to a post WWII era backdrop as eviscerated prostitutes, shady men hiding behind religious fanaticism, and a complex PI in Frank Grissel who's secret provides a tasty side dish to the brutal main course, form a compelling and well paced plot.
My rating: 4/5 stars. Part of the now defunct (which is a damn shame) Vertigo Crime series, Fogtown is well worth the time to track down and devour; an easy flowing single sitting dose of hardboiled crime.
The 1953 period setting in San Francisco plays to a post WWII era backdrop as eviscerated prostitutes, shady men hiding behind religious fanaticism, and a complex PI in Frank Grissel who's secret provides a tasty side dish to the brutal main course, form a compelling and well paced plot.
My rating: 4/5 stars. Part of the now defunct (which is a damn shame) Vertigo Crime series, Fogtown is well worth the time to track down and devour; an easy flowing single sitting dose of hardboiled crime.
November 9, 2011
The art's great, but the story is totally unbelievable, full of too many coincidences even for a crappy pulp novel, which is what this is. In addition, even though this is presented as a "classic" noiry type of private-dick story, the level of misogyny and homophobia evidenced here really turned me off. Disappointing.
November 16, 2013
Hang with this one. You might be bored and offended by the first thirty pages, but let me just say there are some surprises. The art looks flat and pulpish, but hey this is pulp, and commentary on pulp, really, so finally you can't complain about that too much, really, as it fits.
May 4, 2022
Went in blind based on the rep of the publisher - an excellently twisted take on detective noir, although the art leaves much to be desired.
Update 2022 - Accidentally read it again, and it tickled no memories while doing it.
Update 2022 - Accidentally read it again, and it tickled no memories while doing it.
July 30, 2019
Even for the uniformly exceptional Vertigo Crime series, this one stands out
The Vertigo Crime series is incredible - par for the course there means an incredible tale worthy of five stars.
But this one is a bit better than par.
It is the absolute noirest of noir tales, until it takes a turn or two that takes it to the next level.
Just incredible - whether you are a fan of Vertigo, Graphic Novels, noir or not - I'd check this one out.
The Vertigo Crime series is incredible - par for the course there means an incredible tale worthy of five stars.
But this one is a bit better than par.
It is the absolute noirest of noir tales, until it takes a turn or two that takes it to the next level.
Just incredible - whether you are a fan of Vertigo, Graphic Novels, noir or not - I'd check this one out.
July 18, 2014
Set in 1950s San Fran, this Vertigo Crime graphic novel "Fogtown" is a pulp tale about a hard-boiled, dick-loving dick. And it's nearly fantastic.
The plot and most everything else is pretty straightforward noir fare; what makes "Fogtown" atypical is its progressive and honest approach to sexuality. Specifically, the sexuality of the main character. Gabrych's take on the gay man (albeit closeted, mostly) is admirable and hopefully we see a lot of this in the future - in more comics, in more media in general. Gabrych's characters treat homosexuality how it must've been in the 50s and it feels authentic. It's not PC, it's not preachy, it's not what you'd expect, and thank God for that.
Beyond its main plot, this story is about faith, fortune, fucking, and family. And our anti-hero Frank has problems in all of these areas. He's not only deep in the closet, but he's a drunk, he has whore issues, girlfriend issues, ex-wife issues, a daughter with daddy issues, case issues, boyfriend issues, hirsute issues, and the shit hits the fan when his personal, professional, and private worlds collide along with all of these, well, issues.
The art was definitely more than serviceable. It feels very pulpy, very 1950s. Black and white, heavy on the ink, thick lines. Rader's storytelling skills are mostly strong (save a couple obfuscated or contextless panels). But this book ain't exactly firing on all cylinders, hence the four stars. Cliches abound, for one. I expect and forgive them, sure, given the limitations of the form and the genre, and while Gabrych earned from me enough goodwill with this character that I can forgive him anything, it's the prose that keeps the book from truly singing.
Recommended for fans of detective fiction or pulps or film noir, but a must for gay comics fans in general since we populate far less than "ten percent" of the comic book universe. It's slim pickings, but here, at least, the pickings are good.
The plot and most everything else is pretty straightforward noir fare; what makes "Fogtown" atypical is its progressive and honest approach to sexuality. Specifically, the sexuality of the main character. Gabrych's take on the gay man (albeit closeted, mostly) is admirable and hopefully we see a lot of this in the future - in more comics, in more media in general. Gabrych's characters treat homosexuality how it must've been in the 50s and it feels authentic. It's not PC, it's not preachy, it's not what you'd expect, and thank God for that.
Beyond its main plot, this story is about faith, fortune, fucking, and family. And our anti-hero Frank has problems in all of these areas. He's not only deep in the closet, but he's a drunk, he has whore issues, girlfriend issues, ex-wife issues, a daughter with daddy issues, case issues, boyfriend issues, hirsute issues, and the shit hits the fan when his personal, professional, and private worlds collide along with all of these, well, issues.
The art was definitely more than serviceable. It feels very pulpy, very 1950s. Black and white, heavy on the ink, thick lines. Rader's storytelling skills are mostly strong (save a couple obfuscated or contextless panels). But this book ain't exactly firing on all cylinders, hence the four stars. Cliches abound, for one. I expect and forgive them, sure, given the limitations of the form and the genre, and while Gabrych earned from me enough goodwill with this character that I can forgive him anything, it's the prose that keeps the book from truly singing.
Recommended for fans of detective fiction or pulps or film noir, but a must for gay comics fans in general since we populate far less than "ten percent" of the comic book universe. It's slim pickings, but here, at least, the pickings are good.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2019
A fairly conventional hardboiled whodunit... with a compelling conceptual twist: What if grizzled gumshoe Sam Spade had been a closeted homosexual? I'm sure that's the sort of pitch that got this project sold.
Some here on Goodreads have criticized Fogtown for being a derivative grab-bag of detective-story clichés, but it's Gabrych's very fidelity to the genre's shopworn tropes that gives his single narrative innovation -- a gay tough-guy P.I. -- its punch. Fogtown wears its pulp influences on its sleeve, right down to the book's presentational format: It's a digest-sized black-and-white comic that would've been right at home on a newsstand rack beside the Black Mask and Black Book Detective magazines of the thirties, or the underground comix of the Haight-Ashbury era.
Ultimately, though, I think the chosen medium proves too limited to adequately accommodate Fogtown's admirable narrative and thematic ambitions. This is a story that aspires to be both a character study (a subversion of the archetypal hardboiled detective à la Mike Hammer) and labyrinthine noir mystery (in the vein of The Big Sleep and Chinatown, et al.), with all the requisite colorful supporting players and double-dealing intrigue; it's about sexual identity, religious hypocrisy, and the City of San Francisco at that midcentury transitional period after the war but before the counterculture. Fogtown is trying to synthesize a lot of components -- crime-genre conventions, social taboos, family melodrama -- to tell a big, layered story.
And, alas, a 175-page graphic novel of (on average) three-to-five panels per page simply isn't enough room to do justice to all of those elements; Fogtown would've benefited from a broader canvas, like a novel, which would've offered Gabrych the space and scope to develop his story to its full potential, to bring us into his hardboiled hero's head the way Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler did. As it stands, this book mostly feels like a storyboard album: a keyframe sketch for a story yet to be fully realized. It's a fast read that leaves you wanting more from it, which shouldn't, I'm sorry to stipulate, be taken as a compliment.
Some here on Goodreads have criticized Fogtown for being a derivative grab-bag of detective-story clichés, but it's Gabrych's very fidelity to the genre's shopworn tropes that gives his single narrative innovation -- a gay tough-guy P.I. -- its punch. Fogtown wears its pulp influences on its sleeve, right down to the book's presentational format: It's a digest-sized black-and-white comic that would've been right at home on a newsstand rack beside the Black Mask and Black Book Detective magazines of the thirties, or the underground comix of the Haight-Ashbury era.
Ultimately, though, I think the chosen medium proves too limited to adequately accommodate Fogtown's admirable narrative and thematic ambitions. This is a story that aspires to be both a character study (a subversion of the archetypal hardboiled detective à la Mike Hammer) and labyrinthine noir mystery (in the vein of The Big Sleep and Chinatown, et al.), with all the requisite colorful supporting players and double-dealing intrigue; it's about sexual identity, religious hypocrisy, and the City of San Francisco at that midcentury transitional period after the war but before the counterculture. Fogtown is trying to synthesize a lot of components -- crime-genre conventions, social taboos, family melodrama -- to tell a big, layered story.
And, alas, a 175-page graphic novel of (on average) three-to-five panels per page simply isn't enough room to do justice to all of those elements; Fogtown would've benefited from a broader canvas, like a novel, which would've offered Gabrych the space and scope to develop his story to its full potential, to bring us into his hardboiled hero's head the way Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler did. As it stands, this book mostly feels like a storyboard album: a keyframe sketch for a story yet to be fully realized. It's a fast read that leaves you wanting more from it, which shouldn't, I'm sorry to stipulate, be taken as a compliment.
June 14, 2020
This is not a comic for kids, The writing was over cliched 50's dime novel crime crap copied and modernized for the gay community. I have a very hard time figuring out who the real target audience was supposed to be. It did have a story from start to finish and got marks for that. I usually end all my book reviews with this was a good read. maybe that is a good place to stop. Oh hell be brave and give it a read, it was a risk and they did put a lot of work into it, This was a good read.
May 9, 2017
Fogtown is an amazing piece of literature, not only by graphic novel standards but also by literary standards. This graphic novel follows Frank Grissel, a hardened detective who makes his living solving crimes and charming the ladies. However, he has more than a few secrets locked in his closet !
The novel features all the characters you would expect from a noir - the private dick, pimps, shipyard owners, the city's grit, sordid sexual underbelly, and a bevy of unsavory characters.
The story has so many twists and turns and such a frenetic pace that it would make an amazing film. It’s like one of those picturesque typed novel. It’s a truly engaging and thrilling page turner. It is definitely a must read for noir fans, gay comic book geeks, and mystery lovers.
The art in this book is as stylish and off beat as the story itself. Rader's illustrations, cartoonish yet realistic, are like the ones you find in the old 60s underground comics. Think of his art style similar to art style of the legendary ZAP COMIX. A Real quirky one!
Story – 4/5
Art – 4/5
The novel features all the characters you would expect from a noir - the private dick, pimps, shipyard owners, the city's grit, sordid sexual underbelly, and a bevy of unsavory characters.
The story has so many twists and turns and such a frenetic pace that it would make an amazing film. It’s like one of those picturesque typed novel. It’s a truly engaging and thrilling page turner. It is definitely a must read for noir fans, gay comic book geeks, and mystery lovers.
The art in this book is as stylish and off beat as the story itself. Rader's illustrations, cartoonish yet realistic, are like the ones you find in the old 60s underground comics. Think of his art style similar to art style of the legendary ZAP COMIX. A Real quirky one!
Story – 4/5
Art – 4/5
August 4, 2019
Último de la colección Vertigo Noir en mi poder y uno que fui demorando su lectura luego de chocar en un primer intento con un dibujo casi que "funny" que no me parecía pegara ni por asomo con la historia que se estaba contando. ¿Y qué historia es esta? Estamos en San Francisco, en la década del 50 y tenemos al paradigmático detective privado, duro, sórdido y recio -el veterano de guerra Frank Grissel- quien comienza a investigar la desaparición de una muchacha aparentemente devenida en prostituta por encargo de la angustiada madre. Y aunque la historia parezca de manual -y un poco lo sea, para que vamos a mentir- pronto el caso devendrá hacia un "nada es lo que parece" y habrá varias sorpresas apareciendo con regularidad, incluídas algunas sobre nuestro protagonista. El guión de Gabrych no llega a volar alto nunca pero tampoco se estrella, avanzando con contundencia en una obra que estira los márgenes del género sin nunca llegar a romperlos (ni intenciones de hacerlo tiene, tampoco). ¿Y el dibujo de Rader, ese que me alejó aquella primera vez? Debo decir que cuesta, pero luego uno se acostumbra y se le reconoce que -aunque quizá su estilo no sería el primero que uno asociaría con "policial negro"- tiene buena narrativa y hasta dinamismo bien aplicado en varios momentos. Termina por ser funcional y correcto, tanto como el propio libro en su totalidad.
January 27, 2015
I found this book at my local library while searching for graphic novels done in the film noir style. At first, I was happy to see this story, the hard-boiled detective and all of the trappings.
However, as many others have noted, the plot is weak and convoluted. Filled with every genre cliche. While I'm not adverse to swearing or sex in stories, the crass and vulgarity of story just seemed out of place. It was almost cursing for cursing sake.
The storyline was clunky and had too many subplots.
However, as many others have noted, the plot is weak and convoluted. Filled with every genre cliche. While I'm not adverse to swearing or sex in stories, the crass and vulgarity of story just seemed out of place. It was almost cursing for cursing sake.
The storyline was clunky and had too many subplots.
January 21, 2018
Nothing special. Incoherent plot that leaves the reader with loose ends, even by noir standards. Design was bad most of the time, with the main characters having a slightly different face from panel to panel and the almost complete absence of backgrounds made for a comic scetchy and empty. Even the attempt of drawing close-ups that pay homage to the hollywood crime movies of the '50s didn't come out good (pg. 100 & 121 for example).
Wouldn't say it was a waste of money, but it wasn't that far from it. They're much better noir/neo-noir graphic novels out there, avoid "Fogtown".
Wouldn't say it was a waste of money, but it wasn't that far from it. They're much better noir/neo-noir graphic novels out there, avoid "Fogtown".
November 30, 2014
I love hard boiled crime stories, but this one just didn't appeal to me. The story seemed to spin it's wheels, and seemed almost like a parody of the genre. The artwork wasn't very impressive either. So far the Vertigo Crime imprint, which I thought I'd love, has been a bit of a mixed bag. This is my least favorite of the imprint I've read so far.
March 6, 2012
A comic that's a really dark private-eye story set in San Francisco and that pushes back against the straight macho sexuality of Mickey Spillane... would be a good idea. This isn't the way to do it. This is just clunky, ineptly lurid and embarrassing.
February 23, 2020
A private eye story set in San Francisco in 1953, a closeted private eye is hired to track down an errant daughter which spins into a sordid tale of prostitution and a sex trade for she-males. Very brutal, this story pulls no punches. The period details are consisted as art and story blend together perfectly. A tale well worth reading for those who want a sexual twist on the hard boiled detective genre
March 29, 2020
I get that that narrative is supposed to reflect the “womanizing private dick” hero, but it is clear that Gabrych’s “Fogtown” is just a racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and transphobic pile of trash.
April 14, 2021
Honestly, I had about 15 pages left and just didn’t care anymore. It’s a cliche about the damaged PI returning from war and he has his demons and the story just isn’t compelling. I hate to be so rude about it, but it wasn’t for me.
January 3, 2023
This was much better then the last book I read in the vertigo graphic mystery line of books this was much more of the mystery aspect of the story and I liked it a bit more than than I thought I would based on the last book in this series I'm glad that I read it still not as good as I hoped for
September 28, 2023
Not a good read. The story starts off well enough, but unravels into a weak convoluted narrative. The characters are undeveloped as the story drags on.
The art is very uneven and inconsistent throughout. Some panels are okay, but most stuff is meh.
The art is very uneven and inconsistent throughout. Some panels are okay, but most stuff is meh.
August 8, 2017
interesting. weird. rating is probably 2 3/4 stars, but oh well...
April 4, 2018
Another Vertigo crime book, another predictably "noir" protagonist and another series of reveals that strain credulity.
September 5, 2018
I really enjoyed this for the most part. The shocking portion of the piece didn't really do it for me, though. The art was great and fit the bill perfectly.
October 18, 2018
Decent art, but the plot feels a bit mangled and far fetched. The twists feel a little belabored, as if a long narrative was sandwiched into a shorter one.
July 20, 2021
Once I picked Fogtown (kindle) up, I had a hard time putting it down.
August 26, 2022
Enjoyed it overall. The language and stereotypes are outdated and harsh but a good read for what it was.
April 23, 2023
A gritty noir, Marlowe-style, but with some twists. A very good and solid story. Drawings are quite strange, but depict perfectly the atmosphere.
October 18, 2010
I am not really enjoying this book. I intend on finishing it to hopefully be proved wrong. I am from San Francisco and have recently been burning through graphic novels so finding this story at my local library was a perfect match. I began reading this and was disappointed that the supporting characters had so much more depth than the main character. He is wandering through this story completely oblivious to anything around him including his own history. I would say spoiler alert, but the book description gives it away [i wish i had read the summary before i began]. His big secret is that OMG he is gay. Do we really have to make this overly macho guy a homosexual in San Francisco? It seems that the only part of my amazing city that is given the time of day is it's homosexual community. I would not be offended if it were being represented positively or realistically. However this book has done nothing, but use derogatory names and the main character is so self hating that he has been carrying on a relationship with a woman for 7 years. The message comes across as: Being a homosexual is something you should be ashamed of. I have read comic books since my childhood and have learned that many of the beloved characters are role models in minority communities. They teach you to stand up and be proud of who you are. Whether you were born differently or not. This book seems to be about suppressing who you are because you will just hurt more people. It is offensive and has portrayed all it's female characters as prostitutes or sluts. As i said above i will finish this book to hopefully be proved wrong.
*
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Ok now i am done. The character seems to accept himself, but i think for me it was too little.
*
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Ok now i am done. The character seems to accept himself, but i think for me it was too little.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2021
Well this was upsetting but goddamn I loved it
August 28, 2017
2017: The first thirty pages were much easier to take, knowing how the story goes, and those layers are still there and build to a great finish. It's a hard, uncomfortable story at times, but it's worth it.
I hated this book for about the first thirty pages. It was everything I've had issue with regarding the whole Vertigo Crime line. Why write pulp that doesn't do anything with the genre? Why recreate the genre as though nothing's changed in the last few decades since pulp was at its height?
And then, the story changed. A layer got added, and then another, and suddenly the stereotype detective shifted from a hard-bitten drunk who hates everyone into a self-loathing man whose world view is so clearly impacted by how much he's been taught to hate himself and how much of it he's internalized. He becomes a very messed-up person rather than just another burly detective.
It's not a perfect book. The third act is a bit scrambled, and those first thirty pages go down hard, but it's worth it to experience the whole story and appreciate that the creators on this book wrote that hard-bitten detective pulp and found where it twist it on its stand. It is, I think, what Vertigo was going for with the whole series, and it's well worth the read.
I hated this book for about the first thirty pages. It was everything I've had issue with regarding the whole Vertigo Crime line. Why write pulp that doesn't do anything with the genre? Why recreate the genre as though nothing's changed in the last few decades since pulp was at its height?
And then, the story changed. A layer got added, and then another, and suddenly the stereotype detective shifted from a hard-bitten drunk who hates everyone into a self-loathing man whose world view is so clearly impacted by how much he's been taught to hate himself and how much of it he's internalized. He becomes a very messed-up person rather than just another burly detective.
It's not a perfect book. The third act is a bit scrambled, and those first thirty pages go down hard, but it's worth it to experience the whole story and appreciate that the creators on this book wrote that hard-bitten detective pulp and found where it twist it on its stand. It is, I think, what Vertigo was going for with the whole series, and it's well worth the read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews