For nearly a century and a half, Hart Island has been the final destination for New York’s destitute and departed. I first heard of Hart Island while reading Tim Page’s marvelous biography of Dawn Powell. I was fascinated that someone who had some notoriety could still end up in a potter’s field (which I never knew was a biblical reference—land bought using Judas’ blood money to bury the poor once belonged to a potter). Unfortunately, my image of the island remains gauzy even after reading this book. This is not entirely the author’s fault. For most of it’s history, the island has been under the control of either the military or the New York prison system—neither organization has been eager to share information. Even visiting the island was virtually impossible until more recent times—and those visits mostly limited to families of the deceased residing there. The book jumps around in a seemingly random manner which doesn’t help—making the book feel like a series of articles strung together. To compensate for a lack of in-depth information about the island, the book is full of the history of New York—the famous, the infamous, the indigent and the dead. Some of it is fascinating (so much of New York’s expensive real estate sits upon old cemeteries) some of it less so. Apparently over a million have been buried there but throughout the book confusing references are made to other numbers or to simply not knowing a number at all. This also contributes to that feeling of articles strung together. Maybe it’s my natural empathy, but reading this did make me feel the weight of the island. Layer upon layer of stories does partly impress the magnitude of the lives erased from memory upon the reader but that weight alone does not tell the whole story. I wish I knew more.

This is pretty good suspense tale is awash in 1940’s sensibilities. It is not any period description that nails the time and place but instead the presentation of the hearts and minds of the characters. They are as trapped in their time and mindset as they are in the hotel where much of the story takes place. Every time I thought this story was just a light entertainment, the story lived up to the title Mischief and surprised me. They were not cheap surprises like a squirrel popping out of a cake but surprises derived from the characters strengths and weaknesses—allowing for a slow ratcheting of suspense a click at a time. The stakes seem modest but all the more credit for drawing the reader in. Liked the ending just as much as the rest—a marvelous ambivalence. Looking forward to seeing what else I can find by the author.

Some time back I watched the movie based upon this graphic novel. It left me confused and disappointed (I could go on about unfortunate casting choices but I won’t). Since then I’ve wanted to read the graphic novel to get my footing back. Through maybe the first quarter of FROM HELL I was still confused and disappointed but then things clicked. I sunk into the atmosphere, felt a part of 1880’s London and was moved by the rhythms of poverty and power grappling in darkness. The dingy but distinct art work adds to the feel for old timey, grimy London. I have read complaints that the characters are difficult to tell apart. I did have some issues but for the most part enough clues were given to keep things straight (this can be an issue for any graphic novel not dealing with superheroes). This may have been designed to add to the anonymity of the poor as the more well off characters are much easier to distinguish. The artist Eddie Campbell also had to deal with period detail and an extensive dive into 1880’s London architecture and geography—his work highlighting a fantastic insanity laced jaunt around night time London touring the touchstones of Masonic power. In fact, this sequence is when I felt totally locked into the book. I tapped into Dr. Gull’s madness and the inevitability of it’s expression. At 3 or 4 lbs and over 500 pages it is an immersion. Moore masterfully unfolds this complicated tale of madness. There is no rush in the story, unfolding naturally, in rich mostly historical detail. The infamous murders at the heart of this story don’t come close to overshadowing the rest—and there is no rush to them or from them. Following the graphic novel there is 43 oversized addendum pages detailing where most every thoroughly researched detail in the graphic novel came from. This is so well done it’s like watching a making of documentary after a film. Moore tells you what is fact, what is interpretation and what is created to flesh out a readable tale. Fascinating. Then that is followed by a spirited gathering in graphic form of Moore and the authors of his resource materials battling the demons that arose from  handling the subject matter. All marvelous stuff and a great way to wrap this story up.