The Great and Secret Show is based on the novel of the same name by Clive Barker. I have never read the novel, but some had compared it to The Stand by Stephen King, a fine work. IDW has been putting out some great comics lately (such as SuperMarket, a must read by Brian Wood) so I thought I'd give this one a try, and I'm very glad I did.
The story follows Randolph Jaffe, a down and out postal clerk working in the dead letter office of an Omaha post office. Jaffe's job is to go through mail the post office has been unable to deliver to look for items of value. In his search, instead of finding cash, he stubles upon "the Art", an occult force he pieces together from the text of various letters. His spiritual awakening sends him on a quest to find out more about the Art, and the Shoal, the group of mystics practicing it. Like Faust, his ambition sends him on a dark path full of violence. By the end of the first issue we see Jaffe set up as the force of evil in opposition to Richard Fletcher, an evolutionary biologist / mescaline addict who is a fellow seeker of the Art with more pure motives. They end up on Palmono Grove, California, a town clearly destined to have an unusual year.
A successful comic requires good characters and a sufficiently interesting world to give rise to their interactions, and the Secret Show has both of these. The mystical backdrop to the story is enjoyably fertile ground for a comic series that could spend lots of time milking it to its full potential. Jaffe is a good character, though Fletcher needs much more development to stand against him in a balanced way. Fletcher's 'creation', Raul, is a simian creature who seems to have potential and will hopefully reappear in later episodes.
Chris Ryall's adaptation of the story seems quite good as he's clearly having to boil down a massive story into a small comic. He does a good job of laying out the complicated backdrop of the mystical underbelly of America while still moving the story forward.
I really like Garbriel Rodriquez' art on this book. His precise and dark lines work great in this horror context. The use of hazy, blurred backgrounds against the focused foreground where only Jaffe's body is clearly marked is a very nice technique demonstrated in pages 10 and 11. Jay Fotos' use of color is also well done, creating the tone well with a muted shades.
Robbie Robbins also deserves credit for doing the lettering well. For the first time in a long time the words that get bolded in the chracter's speech balloons actually make sense as emphasized words. One of my pet peeves is the use of word bolding which has no relation to what words really should be most prominent, a failing that sadly most comics have.
All in all this is an interesting project and I look forward to issue 2. Congrats to IDW on another successful book.