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The Myth of the Hero Cop and How Our Stories Shape Our Ethics
Joe Kelly is best known for his charater-defining run on DEADPOOL - the movies are heavily based on the comics that bear his name, and no writer since has truly strayed from Kelly's rendition. He also made a spash with the creator-owned Image Comics series I KILL GIANTS with artist Ken Niimura, which was later made into the feature film of the same name starring Madison Wolfe, Imogen Poots, Zoe Saldana, and directed by Anders Walter, Academy Award winner for best live action short film in 2013 (HELIUM).
The duo then came back with IMMORTAL SERGEANT. This is, according to Kelly, a story that took him many years to write. At its core is a personal tale of Kelly's relationship with his own father, who was a lifelong police officer. Accordingly, the comic follows the retirement of Sergeant Jim Sargent, who desperately needs to close one last cold case before he shuffles off into the sunset. But he's going to have to accomplish this while his estranged extended family gathers for both his retirement celebration and his son's birthday.
What follows is one-third disfunctional family drama, one-third father/son road trip, and one-third dismanteling of the heroic / maverick / vigilante cop narrative. A narrative that Jim Sargent tells himself every day, but which his son has become a firm non-believer in.
The family drama aspect of this comic took me by surprise. I bought the series blind, not knowing what it was about, I just loved Joe Kelly as a writer and really dug what artist Ken Niimura was doing, tweaking his style in a major way (we'll come back to this in just a mo'.)
The comic opens as expected - with a number of vignettes showcasing Sargent's old-fashioned ways, ability to eat a drink anything, sleep anywhere, and somehow manage to offend everybody and everything while somehow commanding a room, even from those he just offended. He even frequents a diner in the "colored" side of town, and they treat him like a prince there. (We're going to come back to this in just a mo', too!)
The first chapter of IMMORTAL SERGEANT didn't quite grip me immediately - I read it three times, false starts, before finally committing and continuing on with the series. And I'm glad I did because this story is best read in graphic novel form, in a single or close to single go. It takes its time to set tihngs up, but once it does, the real story takes shape - and man, is it good.
We quickly meet Sargent's ex-wife (now a remarried lesbian) and son, Michael, and his nuclear family, all of which have complicated, grudging relationships with the Sarge. The women push Michael to show up and be there for his dad. (Even though their own ability to put up with Sarge is immediately pushed to its limits.) Michael is a video game app designer and the father / son duo could not be more different or wholly at odds with each other's worldviews.
Nevertheless, Michael soon finds himself on on a roadtrip with the old man, a trip to wrap up Sarge's cold case even as Michael questions his dad's obsession. Even weirder? Michael's own birthday is wrapped up in the events of the case!
Along the way, the creative team slowly builds pros and cons for both types of characters - Michael's complete avoidance of conflict, and Sarge's complete embracing of the same. Michael's sensitivity and creativity held up next to Sarge's ethical fluidity and pople profiling.
There's an excellent scene in the third act where Sarge accompanies another old-school lawman to his own non-white diner, a place this lawman also believes loves him and celebrates him no matter his crassness. Yet here, in someone else's palace, Sarge remains observant, and notices the staff spitting into their coffee in the back, their laughter, plainly at their expense, occuring off on the sides.
This all dovetails into a finale where the myth of the hero cop is put under the microscope: he tracks down his culprit; he's desperate to deliver justice; but while there was an injustice done in the past, and there was a culprit, was it the act of black-hearted evil he'd had nightmares of all these decades? Was it truly a heinous crime in need of vigilante justice?
The idea of our need for maverick, superheroic law enforcement is explored, and more importantly - the cost. Not just to the percieved criminals, but what of the officer's family? His obligations beyond the day job? What was lost in these decades of obsession, imagining himself the great don't-make-em-like-they-used-to hero? And how does this mirror the very tragedy he's trying to correct?
"So what happened?"
"I threw away a child."
By the end, both generations of men have been changed by their time together. The elder has learned the folly of mythologizing himself, demonizing others; the younger has learned to embrace the world around him to a greater degree than being inoffsenive and unobtrusive.
The comic wraps with the two virtually switcing places: the elder finally sleeping, not fitfully, but truly sleeping, finally able to let go of the burden he'd placed upon himself. The son then takes control, unclenches, comes into his own and dares o face the world head-on in a way he hadn't allowed himself before.
The Pairings! (AI-free links below)
Dallas’ Pairing
Samuel Smith's Old Bull Brewery, Tadcaster Oatmeal Stout
Apparently Dallas’ Irish friend calls beer “wine” so this kinda sorta not really counts as a “wine pairing”?
Brewed with well water (the original well at the Old Brewery, sunk in 1758, is still in use, with the hard well water being drawn from 85 feet underground.) Fermented in “stone Yorkshire squares” to create an almost opaque, silky textured ale with a medium dry palate and bittersweet finish.
Neither Dallas nor myself are much or beer, but this did it for the big D, and honestly, an oatmeal stout sounds like something I’d like as well! (I’m a huge oat milk fan.)
This was a drink Dallas thought the Immortal Sergeant himself would reach for, or at least a version thereof that we could stomach ;P
Dave’s Wine Pairing
2020 Quintas de Melgaço Super Reserva Sparkling Alvarinho, Vinho Verde DOC
Old school “champenoise” style done with a new world grape and winery - a 100% Alvarinho sparkling, aged in bottle for a minimum of 24 months. I’m not usually a sparkling wine fan - they give me indigestion more often than not. But this was a true stunner. It had weight and a slight oiliness, perfect bubbles, and a deep brioche and butterscotch flavor. No indigestion!
I shared this on Notes a week back, because it looked so damn pretty:
The effervesance + weight matched the manga-style breeziness + weighty subject matter of the comic. The old world meets new world matched the generational divide and inevitable coming together of the characters. It was just a gorgeous pairing!
Best place to find this in the States is Diniz Cellars, who can ship to any state that allows it.
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