Written by by Kyle Starks
Art by Fran Galán
Published by BOOM! Studios

As regular readers of my FOG! reviews know, one of my favorite things is to open up a graphic novel I’ve never heard of, by creators I don’t know, and just be blown away by it. It’s just happened again! This time it’s BOOM! Studios’ Pine & Merrimac, by Kyle Starks and Fran Galán.

This is another collected five issue mini-series, complete with all the variant covers in the back, all mostly by other creators I don’t know.  I really need to start paying more attention to newer folks as some of these are excellent.

Pine & Merrimac is a perfectly crafted and self-contained story about husband-and-wife small town detectives.

Linnea Kent is an ex-police officer who joined the force after her sister was killed and left due to a major aversion to murder.

Her husband and partner is a Jack Reacher type—a hulking former MMA fighter named Parker who seems perhaps to have a bit of brain damage but who absolutely dotes on his spouse.

They take only small cases until the day someone comes in with a missing girl case that reminds Linnea of her sister and she can’t refuse it. One thing leads to another as their investigation finds an uninhabited island to be inhabited by what appears to be a secret sex cult involving human sacrifices and with people at the highest levels of government involved.

The artwork on Pine & Merrimac is stunning.

If I had to compare Fran Galán’s masterful, colorful art and storytelling to the work of someone I know, I’d say it reminds me somewhat of Dan Panosian. Galán’s character designs are all unique and his facial expressions are wonderfully appropriate. Every page is a gem in terms of comics art.

Making it all even better is the writing!

The story itself has a sort of Eyes Wide Shut vibe at times. We start out with a nice, leisurely introduction to the characters, their backgrounds, and their quirks, and then proceed into their business day, then on to their big new case.

What really got me was the sharp, realistic, witty dialogue. Genuine wit often takes a back seat to pure silliness or farce in comics and yet here, the wit sustains throughout. Each character actually sounds different, as well. I’ve noted before that some writers, through no fault of their own, can’t seem to resist making every character just a variation on themselves. That’s not an issue here as everyone speaks in his or her own cadence, complete with uncensored adult language, but only as needed in context.

There’s plenty of excitement, a funny bit with a Furry orgy, and a sad but amusing side-plot about a former case. There’s a very unexpected twist (no spoiler here) toward the end that leads directly to some beautifully drawn images with Linnea and her emotions leaping right off the page. Then all of that barrels ahead to what I thought was a very satisfying ending.

I have no idea if Pine & Merrimac has continued from BOOM!, or if it is going to. If it does, I’ll want to see it for sure, but I almost hope it doesn’t. If it doesn’t, these initial issues have led to this enjoyably self-contained story by two new-to-me creators whose work I’ll be checking out going forward.

Sinus drainage and a cough got me up at 3:30 AM this morning and I picked this book from my virtual review stack to read. It not only made the time pass but it distracted me from how miserable I was feeling. Head on over to the corner of and it might well make your day, too.

Booksteve recommends!