Read our review of Pine & Merrimac #1 from BOOM! Studios, written by Kyle Starks with art by Fran Galán, a new mystery series.
We reviewed the book on the Stack podcast. But in the interest of highlighting more about the title, here’s a summary of the conversation with our thoughts. And if you prefer the longer audio version, that’s below as well!
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Pine & Merrimac #1 Review:
In this new miniseries, we meet two detectives, neither of whom are named Pine or Merrimac. They solve mysteries, but not murders or kidnappings… Until they do.
“This is an over-the-plate… Rom-com book, with [an] interesting mystery, cute characters hanging out,” host Justin Tyler said.
“I love this whole setup,” agreed Pete LePage. He also enjoyed the art, calling out the “cool tone” that emphasized yellows throughout the coloring.
As for the main couple, Tyler “really liked their relationship… they were so familiar with each other, [it] feels like a nice love story at the center of this.”
Alex Zalben noted that this book felt like an extension of the romance Kyle Starks wrote in I Hate This Place, “because you have a very mismatched pair going on there.” He also compared it to Greg Rucka’s Stumptown, another mystery series with an occasional hang-out vibe. “Even when you have a relatively serious book, [Starks] can’t help but throw a couple of jokes in there, like the title. Their names are not Pine and Merrimac, that’s where they work, and that feels like a good recurring joke to keep playing. But it also seems like it’s going to get very dark as it goes, so I’m curious to see what this series becomes.”
Pine & Merrimac #1 Official Synopsis:
On the corner of Pine and Merrimac sits a small, unassuming town… Just a simple place, simple people, and one horrifying secret that could change everything…
After a lifetime of witnessing the worst that humanity has to offer, former homicide detective Linnea Kent has decided to put all of that behind her.
Alongside her husband, a former professional MMA fighter and the unofficial brawn to her brains, she’s moved far from the busy city to open up a quiet little detective agency.
At first, the simple cases this nook of the world has to offer were exactly what she was looking for, but there’s more to the quaint hamlet than Linnea could have possibly imagined, and something truly sinister pulling the strings…
Eisner-nominated scribe Kyle Starks (I Hate This Place, Creepshow) is joined by fan-favorite artist Fran Galán (The Amazing Spider-Man) for an unexpected detective tale perfect for readers of Reckless and The Department of Truth!
