The Fade Out 12

Tomorrow, When the World is Free
By Ed Brubaker, Sean Philips, Elizabeth Breitweiser
Jan 2016

Charlie wakes up the morning after Gil was killed. He is lying on a bed with Maya. They are both dressed and in her mother's house. Charlie can't remember how he got there. He starts to wonder if it was all just a dream or a nightmare but when he goes out to the car Gil's body is there.

Charlie reflects on the people who have died, Val, Gil, Al Kamp. He can't make sense of it all but he decides it is Drake Miller's fault and resolves to kill him. He goes to Miller's office but Miller has left town. There's a new G-man there in his place. Charlie contemplates suicide, puts the gun to his temple but can't pull the trigger.

He returns to the car which he left with Maya, at her mother's home. Phil Brodsky is there waiting for him. Maya tipped him off. Gil's body is a problem but one that Brodsky is going to help him with. It will probably be something the studio can hold over Charlie's head but that is my reading of it and not explicitly clear.

With the reveal that Maya is Mexican I am left wondering if that is another reason why she shaved her pubes. Maybe she isn't s natural blonde.

Six weeks later

Charlie wakes up. This time he is on the couch at Gil and Melba's place. That night is the premiere of the movie, Valley of Shadows. Lots has changed, Maya and Tyler Graves are engaged, Dottie has a new look, Brodsky seems to have mellowed, but just a bit. I get the impression that he doesn't appreciate the FBI interference at the studio. He spins a tale for Charlie about what might have happened to Val and Miller's role in it. He doesn't seem to know or want to say exactly what happened.

What Charlie gleams from Brodsky's version of the truth is that Val died because she wouldn't play ball with Miller, name names, in particular Charlie. The story ends without a complete resolution with Charlie wandering the streets drinking, crying, agonizing over all that has happened and unable to find peace.

2/9

GCD: https://www.comics.org/issue/1518987/