Normandy Gold #1: Powerful women driving 1970's police grit




While this review is based on the first issue, Trade Paperback is on pre-order for Januarty 2018!!
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Normandy Gold is a new series launched 06/14 (yesterday) under the Hard Case Crimes imprint of Titan Comics.

1970's Sheriff Normandy Gold is stationed in Dealy Oregon. While Dealy is not real, I found it humorous that Google maps auto-corrects it to 'Deadly Oregon' and then points you to the location of the Oregon Department of Justice. Coincidence?

  • Normandy Gold #1 (Abbot, Caplan, Scott, Kindziersky)
  • First issue - 32 pages
  • Titan Comics / Hard Case Crimes
  • ASIN: B06WVCSH8T


Back on topic- Gold enters a manhunt beginning in Oregon and moving to Washington DC (arguably real). As a runaway, she she was found and raised by the local Sheriff and taught life skills. Justice is her family business.

In a poorly timed phone call, Normandy finds herself listening to her estranged sister being murdered over the phone by a John. She already knows the when and is determined to find out the who what why and specifics of where. Before heading to DC, puts on her leather jacket, 8" hunting knife sheath, Farrah Fawcett sunglasses, and some ass kicking shoes.

As with a great deal of hard boiled fiction, a reader needs to be okay with convenient plot elements. It is a common part of the genre. Even though it makes for a fun read, it is impossible to refrain from some eye rolls. This is not an exception. Gold speaks very infrequently with her sister, but calls her at just the wrong time. She needs an in-road with a crazy powerful Madam in a prostitution ring, and is able to find a path in fairly easily (though at the cost of some dignity).

This is not a nipple free covered breast avoiding the grit comic. While it also contains liberal doses of 1970's misogyny, don't confuse this with some 'dude driven fantasy hate comic', this was crafted by some amazing ladies in the industry.

Gold was written by crime fiction masters Megan Abbott (You Will Know Me, Dare Me) and Alison Gaylin (What Remains Of Me, Into Darkness). Artwork by Steve Scott (Batman, X-Men Forever, JLA).

If you feel it might be justified for a 70's DC Cop to nearly get a knife stuck in him for being a chauvinist dick-wad, this is probably up your alley.

I am interested to see where this goes!

-- Cover commentary --

While I KNOW that the drawing of Detective Paul Sturges includes a gun holster... It looks like an erect penis growing off his hip and is being gently cradled. I cannot bleach my eyes of it. Add in the cup in his other hand and he seems to have other priorities in mind besides hunting criminals.

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Disclosure: I based this review off a publisher supplied copy, provided to me because for they are concerned that I will never give them the antidote to the poison.

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