Stoneshore is a fading fishing town on the Washington coast with one unique quirk—a giant stone man is built on the bluffs overlooking its inhabitants.

For many years, Jonathan Wright, the owner and editor-in-chief of the Stoneshore Register, has watched the community he loves slowly die due to lack of fish and opportunity. The town is so small that everyone holds multiple jobs just to keep it going. It is also a community rife with secrets. But on a cold winter night, Fadumo Abdi, a Somali refugee, appears on Jonathan’s doorstep, begging for a job. She gets it. A professional journalist, she’s intrigued by the stone giant and wants to know who made it and why. Her quest to discover the stone man’s origins introduces her to the locals who not only do not know, but don’t really care. They have their own historical mysteries and stories to share. But Fadumo has secrets of her own. Will she uncover the truth about this town or become one more mystery lost to time?

A lovely character-driven story, we immediately know who these characters are and their priorities. Little things like Jonathan knowing exactly where to place a newspaper for an elderly subscriber demonstrates his compassion and his knowledge of the community he serves. Fadumo is a lost soul trying to find her place in the world and would rather do it by investigating others’ secrets rather than dealing with her own. She’s a fish out of water in a place that has no fish. Her frustration is palpable even though she makes small connections with the locals. It’s one step forward and two steps back which makes for excellent organic conflict.

I’m not usually a fan of black-and-white graphic novels, but there are exceptions, and this is one of them. (The other is Silver by Stephan Franck.) The gray scale is terrific. The shadowing adds to the mystery of the place. You can almost feel the wind and the blustery cold. I suspect it is a metaphor for the black-and-white newspaper of The Stoneshore Register.

Though the story follows the underlying mysteries of this community, it’s really about love, acceptance, and inclusion. As Jonathan says, “No one who has climbed the mountain, who has looked this Giant in the face, is an outsider.”

Creative Team: G. Willow Wilson (writer), M.K. Perker (artist), Richard Bruning (letterer)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
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