Weeks delayed, but better late than never – my thoughts and reporting from the World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago (AKA Chicon 8). I was on no less than three different Noir related panels – one focused on literature, one on television, and one on comics. I was speaking about it so often; someone asked me if I worked with Eddie Muller and the Film Noir Foundation.
The Answer: “Oh, I only wish.” (Seriously – need anyone running your outreach campaigns? Call me.)
But let’s start at the first one of the conference – “Noir and SFF.”
I shared this with our moderator Neal Litherland (He/Him) and two time Hugo award winner for best novel, Arkady Martine (she/her ). Yes, I was a little starstruck. But all of us were there as fans and critical consumers of noir. I’ll point to Ryann Fletcher’s great Twitter thread for some highlights.
Arkady Martine wins, though, for my favorite quote: “There are particular kinds of trouble in noir surrounding agency and desire.”
Our discussion ranged from cyberpunk influences, to the nuances of the literary noir style versus just the affectations, and different ways noir can be carried thematically in literature. I put in my plug for Dead Space by Kali Wallace as a great use of very noir tropes to tell a story. We also discussed how noir and cosmic horror share very similar roots – in the pulp tradition, and in the sense of a world so vast and impersonal, one makes terrible decisions to have some form of agency.
We also talked about the timing of noir stories – how there were often spikes of them after wars, when society is trying to ‘retrench’ itself in traditions, thus driving other to question what’s under the promises.
Next up was Dames, Flatfeet, and Cigarettes: Noir in SFFH, moderated by John P Murphy (he/him), Fiona Moore (she/her), and Mark L. Van Name (he/him/his). Here we dove into the media side of noir as seen through the lenses of TV and film. This was another great, ranging discussion. I got to put forward my pet theory that Star Trek both got SF Noir wrong (the Dixon Hill holodeck fantasy is all lighting, no theme) but also got it absolutely right in the underappreciated DS9 episode “Necessary Evil.” To me, it was a very strong way for DS9’s producers to say “We are not TNG.”
Fiona Moore also opened my eyes to how the Ned Stark’s storyline in the first Game of Thrones was very much a noir storyline, featuring him investigating the death of his predecessor and uncovering dangerous secrets which ultimately… well, you know. The series is also rife with people struggling against systems to regain some form of agency and, often, failing spectacularly.
They also brought up a William F Nolan series – more tongue in cheek than heavy noir – called “Seven for Space” about a PI on Mars called “Sam Space.” If I’m in the mood for something lightter, I know know where to go.
But the last panel is the one that taught me the most. Noir Comics: Let’s Get Dark and Moody!
Moderated with nuclear energy by Terry Gant (He/Him) and featuring Jason J. Nebergall (He/They) – and Roderick “Jesse” Bowes (He / They), this is where I got to not only talk up Christa Faust, Gary Phillips, and Meghan Abbot’s great comics, but I also learned about a few I missed out on. Ed Brubaker got mentioned quite a bit, but Fatale came up quite often, as did Stray Bullets, by David Lapham.
Also, Ambush Bug showed up.
Seriously.
OK, you had to be there.
The new discovery for me was Abbott 1973, by Saladin Ahmed. It’s supernatural neo-noir, set in 70’s Detroit and featuring a hard-bitten reporter. Only one volume so far, but I hope there’s more to come.
And I hope this entry gets folks to their search engine of choice. It certainly got me thinking, and wondering where my travels through the darkness at the edge of town would take me.
Biomechanoid Blues 