As I perused an advance copy of the new Image Comics series by Nick Spencer ('Morning Glories') and Christian Ward ('Olympus'), I kept muttering to myself, things like "Yes!" "Right, right." "Oh, good one," and, finally, "More, please."
Christian Ward's art originally caught my eye with a guest appearance in ATOMIC ROBO but it was his work in the four-issue OLYMPUS series that prompted me to write in July 2009: "Ward's art looks like the acid sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey crash-landed on the dark side of the moon and then someone turned on neon spotlights." As much as I appreciate and admire the skill and craftsmanship involved in creating photo-realistic panels and figures, what I really dig is the art that looks hand-made, as though a living, breathing human smudged their fingers in the paint. That hand-made quality what speaks to me most often in strange little films from around the world, and it's what stands out to me in my regular visits to the comic shop.
Nick Spencer, on the other hand, has written very smart, witty dialogue for MORNING GLORIES, an ongoing series for Image Comics, and is also now toiling for D.C. on T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS and other projects. MORNING GLORIES, set in a mysterious boarding school, has been nothing but a joy to read, but I wondered how well Ward's "sprawling, extravagant" art would mix with Spencer's acerbic storytelling.
THE INFINITE VACATION, with a script by Spencer and art by Ward, based on a story by the two, conjures up a world where anyone can change their life at any time, as long as they have the financial resources and wherewithal to do so. All that's needed is to download an app to your smart phone, edit your user profile, and then you'll have access to an infinite number of alternate worlds, each one representing a different path that "you" have taken -- as simple as a world where you didn't forget to pick up the milk, as complex as a world where you chose a different romantic partner or place of employment. You still look the same, basically, and can safely interact with the alternate "you" in the other worlds.
The set-up is a bit complicated -- I've read it twice and it's still a bit murky -- and the explanation is provided through four pages of photos and text, which is a novel, if slightly off-putting idea.
Once the story starts flowing, however, it's a good one. Our protagonist is the indecisive Mark, who is in the top percentage of the world's vacationers, constantly jumping into other alternate realities in the hopes of bettering his lot in life. Things are not working out very well for him, as his psychiatrist, an alternate version of himself, tells him, and Mark finds his alternate self(s) dying in far too many universes for comfort. (Google has an RSS reader to help you keep up with all the news of your alternate realities.) Then he meets a girl, and the final page brings further conflict and danger into his life.
My description probably makes the story and set-up sound more complicated than it is in execution. Spencer's dialogue is snappy, Ward's artwork is marvelous and satisfying -- there's a great two-page splash spread that looks fairly awesome, and the multiple variations on Mark's character come across quite nicely. Ward's intention, as he discussed in an interview with Comic Book Resources, was to make the art more "grounded in reality," and he's done that, without losing the fantastical, unreal aspects that made it so appealing and distinctive to me in the first place.
If you'd like a movie reference, the solicitation for THE INFINITE VACATION compares it to "a mixture of (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND and INCEPTION," if that helps your mind wrap around the concept. It's a cool science fiction premise, delivered with style and action, with a romance on the way.
THE INFINITE VACATION is planned as a five-issue mini-series. Issue #1 hits comic shops tomorrow.
Christian Ward's art originally caught my eye with a guest appearance in ATOMIC ROBO but it was his work in the four-issue OLYMPUS series that prompted me to write in July 2009: "Ward's art looks like the acid sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey crash-landed on the dark side of the moon and then someone turned on neon spotlights." As much as I appreciate and admire the skill and craftsmanship involved in creating photo-realistic panels and figures, what I really dig is the art that looks hand-made, as though a living, breathing human smudged their fingers in the paint. That hand-made quality what speaks to me most often in strange little films from around the world, and it's what stands out to me in my regular visits to the comic shop.
Nick Spencer, on the other hand, has written very smart, witty dialogue for MORNING GLORIES, an ongoing series for Image Comics, and is also now toiling for D.C. on T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS and other projects. MORNING GLORIES, set in a mysterious boarding school, has been nothing but a joy to read, but I wondered how well Ward's "sprawling, extravagant" art would mix with Spencer's acerbic storytelling.
THE INFINITE VACATION, with a script by Spencer and art by Ward, based on a story by the two, conjures up a world where anyone can change their life at any time, as long as they have the financial resources and wherewithal to do so. All that's needed is to download an app to your smart phone, edit your user profile, and then you'll have access to an infinite number of alternate worlds, each one representing a different path that "you" have taken -- as simple as a world where you didn't forget to pick up the milk, as complex as a world where you chose a different romantic partner or place of employment. You still look the same, basically, and can safely interact with the alternate "you" in the other worlds.
The set-up is a bit complicated -- I've read it twice and it's still a bit murky -- and the explanation is provided through four pages of photos and text, which is a novel, if slightly off-putting idea.
Once the story starts flowing, however, it's a good one. Our protagonist is the indecisive Mark, who is in the top percentage of the world's vacationers, constantly jumping into other alternate realities in the hopes of bettering his lot in life. Things are not working out very well for him, as his psychiatrist, an alternate version of himself, tells him, and Mark finds his alternate self(s) dying in far too many universes for comfort. (Google has an RSS reader to help you keep up with all the news of your alternate realities.) Then he meets a girl, and the final page brings further conflict and danger into his life.
My description probably makes the story and set-up sound more complicated than it is in execution. Spencer's dialogue is snappy, Ward's artwork is marvelous and satisfying -- there's a great two-page splash spread that looks fairly awesome, and the multiple variations on Mark's character come across quite nicely. Ward's intention, as he discussed in an interview with Comic Book Resources, was to make the art more "grounded in reality," and he's done that, without losing the fantastical, unreal aspects that made it so appealing and distinctive to me in the first place.
If you'd like a movie reference, the solicitation for THE INFINITE VACATION compares it to "a mixture of (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND and INCEPTION," if that helps your mind wrap around the concept. It's a cool science fiction premise, delivered with style and action, with a romance on the way.
THE INFINITE VACATION is planned as a five-issue mini-series. Issue #1 hits comic shops tomorrow.
science fiction ..romance..hmm...good good :D i'll watch :D
grants to pay bills