Does “True Detective” Actually Draw A Lot From Comic Books?
Creator Nic Pizzolatto has said, “the first time I got excited about writing was reading comic books by Alan Moore and Grant Morrison as a kid. Growing up in southwest Louisiana, in a house without many books, the sophistication and depth of their stories were really mind-blowing for a kid.”
Many writers have noted parallels between True Detective and Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s comic book series on Jack the Ripper, From Hell. Both of them build similar, complex conspiracies around murder cases involving seemingly anonymous individuals. Even more striking are the similarities between the show and another comic by Alan Moore, The Courtyard, which features a detective who specializes in “anomaly theory,” an investigative method that leads him to find connections between three crimes that initially have no apparent connection. The findings drive him mad, to the point where he actually performs the crimes he had been investigating.
However, it’s important to note that many of these comics were heavily influenced by other works of fiction, many of which Pizzolatto himself would later discover after his initial interest in comic books.