The Deep Dark: Telling a Story in Color

 

By Amanda Pate

(I will try to keep spoilers at a minimum, but some minor revelations will be inevitable.)

Graphic novels are a unique medium, and one I’ve enjoyed since I was a little kid looking through the literary selection at the scholastic book fair. Reading books with pictures in high school might seem a bit childish to some, but there are so many things you can do in graphic novels that just wouldn’t be possible in a traditional book. A perfect example of this comes from The Deep Dark, Molly Knox Ostertag’s recently-published graphic novel following Mags, a high school senior with a dark secret–a secret slowly destroying her as she keeps it (quite literally) locked away. When Mags’s childhood friend, Nessa, comes back to her hometown to visit, Mags’s memories of the past begin to resurface, just as the present and future begin to unravel. 

What makes The Deep Dark so remarkable as a graphic novel is its use of color in storytelling. Though most of the book is in black-and white, there are also fully-colored sections interspersed into the story, most notably in the form of flashbacks. Ostertag is by no means the first or only author to use this technique, but I think the use of color does add something special to a story centered so heavily around secrets and darkness. One might think that the colored sections reference a time when things were better for Mags, or times she looks fondly back on–however, this is not always the case. The flashbacks in The Deep Dark are not from a time that is good or bad, only a time that was brighter. Even some of Mags’s more distressing memories, like her first time having to face her secret (Ostertag 167-173), are in color, demonstrating how much stronger the emotions from Mags’s past are than the one she feels now.

For most of the story, Mags is shut off from the rest of the world, trying to go to school, take care of her grandmother, and keep her secret in check. Despite this seemingly overwhelming task, Mags has fallen into a routine, draining though it may be. Before this routine started, the world was more unpredictable and electric, and Nessa’s return has brought some of that feeling back into Mags’s life. Other intense moments, such as those involving blood or fire, are also highlighted with a pop of color to emphasize the importance of the items highlighted. 

When the use of color becomes particularly interesting is toward the end of the book, when Mags’s past and present begin to fully blur together. Present-day Mags is drawn in black-and-white, and wanders aimlessly through a colorful world that was once her own (Ostertag 357-363). There’s something especially striking about this particular section of the book, especially as it comes right before the story’s climax, a dramatic confrontation almost entirely devoid of color. However, once the climax has concluded, a brightly-colored sunset greets the pages, showing how color has finally been brought back into the present day (Ostertag 434).

If The Deep Dark was a traditional novel, an entire fascinating aspect of storytelling would be lost from the pages. So much of the storytelling in this book relies on visuals, and I don’t think I would’ve liked it nearly as much if it wasn’t a graphic novel. I highly recommend this book, and if you end up reading it (provided I haven’t accidentally spoiled too much), I hope you’ll find the visual and chromatic storytelling as fascinating as I did.

Works Cited

Ostertag, Molly Knox. The Deep Dark. Graphix, an Imprint of Scholastic, 2024.