Saturday, June 1, 2013

Ed Brisson & Michael Walsh “The Comeback” (Image Comics, 2013)


If you are incredibly wealthy and a loved one dies in an accident, Reconnect can help you out (for a hefty fee).  They’ll send their agents back in time to just before the death.  Seth & Mark will snatch the person, fake the death, and in a few weeks you’ll be reunited with the person that you had lost.  Unfortunately all of this is illegal, and the FBI has been investigating for quite a while, hoping to get a good lead. Seth & Mark find themselves caught between the FBI and their employers, who don’t have their best interests in mind.  

Ed Brisson has written a captivating mashup of hardboiled crime dramas and time traveling chicanery.  That’s an interesting juxtaposition that you don’t encounter often.  Yes, the plot is incredibly timey wimey and very very confusing.  Personally I found this to be a feature, not a bug.  The characters themselves are confused and frustrated, and the plot complications made their emotional states clearer.

Michael Walsh’s art is simple and dark, echoing the noir tones in the story.  It looks more like a crime story than a SF one.  Unfortunately the dark tones and shadows mean that occasionally the details are lost, and it can be difficult at times to determine exactly what is happening.

This isn’t a comic for everyone, but I found it to be a great deal of fun.  The plot twists kept me guessing and wondering what could possibly happen next.

No comments:

Post a Comment