Beyond the Pale #1: A War Story

Beyond the Pale flashes back to the Viet Nam war for a story about missing soldiers. At least that’s what the main character, a black female reporter named Hetta Sawyer, thinks when she arrives in the country. But Beyond the Pale #1 is a war comic but instead the first issue of a very slow burn horror series.

A discrepancy between the death rates of white and black soldiers in the Viet Nam war brings Hetta to Firebase Tartarus in Beyond the Pale #1. Her arrival is immediately marred by death when the helicopter ferrying her answers a call from a pair of soldiers in need of evacuation. The pilot’s orders are to bring Hetta straight to the firebase, but she goads him into diverting to pick the soldiers up. In the process, one of the men already in the helicopter is killed. It’s a shocking reminder of just where the veteran reporter finds herself. Firebase Tartarus is not a friendly place. There are some soldiers who are welcoming. But most of the men are indifferent if not outright hostile. It’s not long before Hetta experiences an attack on the firebase. During the brief exchange of fire the reporter sees…something.

Beyond the Pale #1 could just as easily be a war comic. There are only two hints toward monsters or the supernatural, and they both come well after the issue’s halfway mark. Most of the comic focuses on the soldiers in Viet Nam in a general sense and the circumstances at Firebase Tartarus specifically. As a reporter Hetta is the perfect viewpoint character for the reader. She’s in a position to ask the soldiers about themselves, an easy means with which to develop the characters. Several of the soldiers line up to stereotypes found in most fiction set during the Viet Nam war, though there are a few outliers that feel story specific, the commanding officer in particular. With the exception of a couple panels, this feels like more of a war drama or action piece than a horror story. Hetta introduces the reader to frustrated, flawed, and very human people living in a war zone, making them much easier to care for than if a meat grinder horror story had started from the jump.

Hetta isn’t just a convenient viewpoint for the reader, though. Beyond the Pale #1 establishes her as a multifaceted character right away. She pushes the pilot to rescue some men because she doesn’t see herself as more important than soldiers in danger. But afterward she second guesses whether her goading got a man killed. Hetta has nerves of steel in the face of men who don’t want her on the base, but a heart of gold toward the more sensitive ones. Her Viet Nam coverage has taken her from covering the anti-war movement, to reporting from Saigon, to chasing a story in the field. Repeatedly Hetta has increased the danger to herself in the interest of pursuing better stories to report. By the time the issue is over, it’s impossible to see Hetta as someone who will shrink in the face of true horror.

The art in Beyond the Pale #1 offers an excellent reflection of Hetta’s strength as revealed by her backstory and present day behavior. She is tall with perfect posture. Her face is emotive but subtly so. There are a few panels where Aira draws Hetta wide eyed in shock, but it’s never in the face of hostility directed straight at her. Emgård writes and Aira very successfully realizes a black female reporter whose strength probably comes in large part from simply being who she is in the 1960s.

Unfortunately Hetta is the only character visually detailed enough to convey information beyond what dialogue and Hetta’s letter-to-home narration provides. Almost every character has a near perfect corner rectangular build. Even Hetta, for all her detail, fits this mold. There is little to no discernable body language as a result. Characters don’t respond physically to what they’re saying or what someone is saying to them. Further, characters that are not central focuses of panels, especially in the background, have very generic faces defined by very limited linework to delineate the location of a mouth, nose, and eyes. The narrative elevates every character Hetta interacts with, but the art offers very limited support to building these characters up for the reader.

The blue sky and vibrant greens that establish the setting in the opening pages contrast nicely with the bulk of the issue which is virtually stripped of color by comparison. The surroundings are brown. The soldiers wear drab green fatigues. There are really only two sources of color to keep the setting feeling alive. One of those is Hetta’s outfits which contrast with the surroundings. The other, bigger one is a lettering choice from Mantella. The caption boxes for Hetta’s letter home narration are a verdant green. They’re like bright beacons within an otherwise plain, depressing, and dark setting.