Written by: Glenn Møane
Art by: Elias Martins
Published by: SST Publications
Partners is a graphic novel that made me uncomfortable while reading, in both good and bad ways. The story by Glenn Møane centers around two corrupt cops employed by a mobster who get assigned to a missing children case. What follows is a disturbing look inside a broken system and the lengths the two will go to in order to keep a comfortable life. There’s a lot of great character work and second guessing woven into the plot, however at times the script can feel a little heavy handed which dampens some of the heavier themes a bit.
What Møane manages brilliantly is the despicable characters of partners Lambardo and Vaveli, particularly in how they react around other character’s. Moane’s goal is to show the depressignly dark reality of corrupt law enforcement and he truly succeeds. There’s a very slimey, unpleasent quality surrounding these two detectives that gives you an uneasy feeling when you’re left alone with them. It’s only made worse when Moane constrasts them alongside other characters; everytime you think they might have redeeming features or they might actually be nice guys as they interact with their fellow offers or lonely victims, they completely shatter these expectations when they’re left alone again to show complete apathy towards those they’ve been around. There’s a real disgusting apathy these characters show for everything around them, with their two faced nature making them hard to pin down. It’s what made me really get into the story as I felt it showed good handling of difficult subject matter from Møane.
Unfortunately, towards the end of the book Møane goes a little too extreme into the negative aspects of these protagonists and hit upon some very uncomfortable subject matter. There’s a moment in which one of the cops goes into a really homophobic rant, and a little earlier the two make casual assertations to having repeatedly raped a girl. I know I said the characters are supposed to be unlikable, however these scenes don’t fit with the flow of the rest of the book and feel a little out of place. I understand Møane wants to make them unlikable, but this sort of brought them to the point of no return to me. I feel if he’d perhaps given them little glimpses of redemption for them or maybe one or two scenes where they show some remorse it would’ve made for a more compelling read as I would’ve wondered whether or not I liked the characters and if they could escape their circumstances. In the end, there are a few scenes that show they might have some morals, but it’s drowned out by scenes of overwhelming negativity. It makes the (admittedly very powerful and gripping ending) seem a little bit too telegraphed, I knew about 10 pages before the ending came where we were headed. Still, the ending manages to be strong and ties up the themes very nicely, making me feel a lot more positive about the book. I just wish Møane could’ve played up the internal conflict as I feel it would’ve made for a more compelling read and given the ending a much more shocking impact.
I had similar complaints when it came to the art; for the most part, Martins delivers a very grounded and gritty style that suits the book. It captures a lot of the spirit Møane is going for with the book, it looks grimy and unpleasant, yet also feels framed like a well shot TV drama. The character models can often feel a little awkward and rough (even changing race at times which was a bit strange), but for the most part it captures their characters well giving off an air of discomfort and anger brewing within the characters. What I do feel is a problem however is how over the top the violence is at times. I have no problem with gritty violence, however at times in the book the level of violence is so over the top that it really undercuts a lot of the tone Møane seems to be going for. It seems almost goofy levels of gratuitous violence which ironically feels a little immature and dampens a lot of the heavy themes Møane is trying to hit. I understand he intends it to be very gritty and shocking as the book is supposed to be a dark expose of what happens when undeserving men are given power, but it just doesn’t land that way for me. I feel if there had been more ambiguity in their actions and the violence had been tackled with a more reserved nature then it could’ve made for a much stronger impact. Right now it feels like it’s a little too on the nose, making the themes seem a bit forced. For example, race seems to be a strong theme for the book, but rather than show the cops maybe being racist or acting strangely around different ethnic groups, their chief straight up says “the mayor doesn’t care because they’re not Caucasian”, and even delivers this line twice during the book. I get that Møane is trying to get a message across, but I feel the heavy handed nature softens the impact of these themes for me.
By the time I finished Partners, I felt a lot more strongly about it than I did while I was reading it. Møane certainly has some good ideas and a unique voice, despite seeming to me like something that should be quite cliché, Partners actually surprised me by how it approached issues and turned some tropes on their heads. There’s definitely some creativity and distinct voice within the pages, even if it is a little rough. I think I was more frustrated by the book’s flaws as there’s so much in the book I want to love. I get what Møane is going for with the book, and in a lot of ways he succeeds, there are just a few instances in which I wish he’d taken a “less is more approach”. If he’d focused less on making the cops say overly negative things and instead let us judge their own actions (a scene in which Lambardo explodes at his kids for example perfectly gets across his inner anger flaws) then this could’ve been a very smart thriller with a great ending. I don’t mean to cut the book down, I still like it but just wish it could achieve its full potential. To summarise, Partners does some great things with the traditional cop drama dynamics and leaves the reader with a hugely satisfying and unnerving pay off, but the path there can at times be a little uneven. I still recommend the book to fans of the genre, as you’re likely to find some cool new things, and I hope Møane continues to refine his writing style, if so he could be someone to look out for.
