Yes, let’s review some comic books. That sounds like a fine idea doesn’t it? No? Too bad, we’re doing it anyway.
Descender #2, by Jeff Lemire (writer), Dustin Nguyen
(illustrator), Steve Wands (letterer and designer) – There’s that “designer”
credit again. I have no idea what it means. I’ll have to try asking someone the
next time I go to a convention.
Alright, I still don’t have the first issue, but it’s easy
enough to follow along. TIM is an android, and this is not a good time to be
one of those, because he’s being pursued through the remains of a mining colony
by some robot-hunting mercs. TIM tries his best to defend himself, but is
critically injured, at which point his brain tries to upload all his memories
of his life up to that point, as he’s being rescued by a large drilling robot
which apparently hates humans.
The interesting bit with regards to the issue’s structure is
that we are shown TIM’s past in flashbacks interspersed with what’s going on in
the present, as he’s being chased. But the actual partial upload takes place in
the span of two pages after he’s gravely injured. Reading through the first
time, I’d assumed we were seeing the flashbacks because TIM was racking his
brains trying to figure out why he was being hunted – he’s been asleep for some
time, and presumably doesn’t know about humanity’s fear of robots. It works as
contrast between his past situation – where he found a loving family that
really took to him, as he did to them – and his current troubles, alone and
hunted for reasons he doesn’t understand. And Nguyen draws him so that he looks
like a scared, confused child in the present. His posture when he runs, the way
he freezes up at the wrong time. It plays off nicely against what we see of him
in his memories, where he often has a blank stare, or attempts to mimic a human
stance in a way that is clearly off. When he talks to Dr. Quon on page 3, he
goes for a head tilt, but it just looks like he’s tilted too far. Since he
adapts and learns as he goes, it stands to reason that in his first moments of
existence, he would get human mannerisms quite right. He hasn’t had time to
adapt yet.
I like the color work, too. The flashbacks aren’t quite
sepia-toned, but it’s close, and it provides a clear break from the blues and
yellows of the present day scenes. And I really like the shade of orange they
used for Bandit’s – that’s a small robot, dog thing TIM found – sound effects.
The really pop against the backgrounds, and the letters themselves are well
done. Each letter itself is rigid, but they aren’t perfectly spaced, they tilt
into or away from each other, probably representing a different inflection.
Maybe when the top of the R leans into the A it’s an alert, but when the bottom
of the R leans in, it’s a confirmation?
Not related to color, but I’ll mention it: I figure there’s some
significance to the first flashback page ending with a fairly large close-up of
Dr. Quon, who TIM immediately thought was family, and the 4th
flashback ending with a similar view of Mrs. Travers, who TIM clearly comes to
identify as his mother. She’s making slightly more of a head tilt than Quon,
but they’re in almost the exact same place on their respective pages. Maybe
it’s something about the various importance in his development, each important
to his past in their own way.
Run Love Kill #1, by Jon Tsuei (story, writer), Eric Canete
(writer/artist), Leonardo Olea (color, lettering, and design) – I picked this
up on a whim, because I had seen it recommended online somewhere, and the cover
was striking.
The book opens with 10 silent pages showing two scenes,
switching back and forth between them. In one, a woman plays a cello, or a
similar instrument beneath bright lights, in all shades of blue and violet. In
the other, a woman escapes from a prison, though the last we see of her, she
was hit by a dart and fell from the wall into the ocean. From there, it moves
to a woman named Rain living in a city named Prygat, which is controlled by a
minister named Origami, and is about to finishing completing a Wall, which will
ensure their safety. And Rain wants out, presumably before then. She’s supposed
to be riding out on a transport, but she doesn’t have quite enough money for
Elsie. Not that it matters much, as Elsie is working for the state, because
they have some interest in Rain, who is almost certainly the lady who escaped
from prison. She might also be the musician, maybe earlier in life.
There’s not enough here to bring me back for a second issue.
It isn’t bad, but I guess I needed the book to jump more directly into things.
If Rain is going to be pursued by the instruments of the state, start with
that, then work forward and back. As it stands, this is too much preamble, and
there’s nothing in the writing that really stands out. Canete’s art is OK, his
characters have this angular, long-limbed look to them that suggests a certain
fluidness to them. Especially when they’re in action, the limbs are drawn in a
way that makes me wonder if the bones are rubber. Which is a nice touch, it
suggests speed and force, like the character is moving so fast their skeleton
has almost given up the ghost. But it isn’t enough by itself.
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