A review of the new Image series by Jim McCann
Credits & Solicit Info:
After Elle Peterssen is mysteriously attacked on a Manhattan subway platform, she is left in a coma, the only clues to her attacker trapped inside her mind. No one knows the identity of the person behind this brutal beating or where they will strike next. In this ALL-NEW ONGOING series, everyone is suspect, and no one is innocent. USAToday calls it an "anxiously anticipated modern thriller...Whodunit? McCann's done it again."
Eisner-winning writer JIM McCANN joins RODIN ESQUEJO (MORNING GLORIES) and SONIA OBACK (S.H.I.E.L.D., The Defenders) unite for a psychological thriller that will leave you guessing at every turn!
Review:
Mind The Gap moves along nicely, but it fails to stick its landing. As I progressed through the issue, I wasn't sure what exactly Mind the Gap was going to be about. I did get some idea of what was happening before the 'surprise' twist on the last page, but the cliffhanger actually undermined the rest of the story. If you're going to go with the 'last-page-dramatic-reveal' route, you ought to make it something that builds on what you've already set up. In this case, the twist left me confused and unsure of what type of story I was reading, which detracts my desire to pick up the next issue. Furthermore, if your backmatter pages are devoted to showing how clever you are, well... first, explaining the trick never works, and second, on the heels of that confusing twist, the creators are not helping me stay with their book.
All complaint about the end of the book aside, I thought the rest of the issue was interesting, with some rather intriguing personal dynamics. At the story's open, the main character is in a coma with her friends and family gathered around her. It's clear that there are many issues between these people, with enough set up that I wanted to know more about their various conflicts. Add to that a mystery of the main character- if she having an out of body experience? Is she simply imagining the ghostly plane with other coma patients? Or is there something real and spooky going on here? And who is the guy who was under orders to put her in a coma, anyway?
See? Plenty of interesting things going on already—I didn't need another at the end that completely muddies the already uncertain things that I've learned.
The art is good- highly realistic but without the obvious photo-references to actors and the like (a tendency I find highly distracting.) There isn't much action to convey, but the character interactions are handled well and there are some nice flourishes on the spooky parts of the narrative.
Bottom Line: I can't say for sure if I'm on board for the next issue, but if you like what I've described above, go ahead and check it out. I may not have liked the ending, but your own mileage may vary.
Review by: BD Montgomery
http://www.theouthousers.com/index.php/reviews/comics-reviews/19359-review-mind-the-gap-1.html/
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