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The Warren Ellis launches
continue with Mek #1, the first of a three-part
miniseries for Homage.
Ellis has had an interest in hi-tech body
modification for a while now. It was pretty apparent
from the earlier concept-driven issues of Transmetropolitan
and it's been cropping up increasingly in his weblog.
It's certainly an interesting subject. Yes, this sort of
extreme body modification is currently the province of a
miniscule fringe of, at best, eccentrics. But it can be
seen quite legitimately as an extension of existing body-art
modifications such as piercing and tattooing, meeting halfway
with self-mutilation. It's a potentially fascinating
subject.
This first issue leaves me interested in
the subject, but not all that interested in the plot and
characters, which is a problem. The story sees Mek
activist Sarissa Leon returning to her home city to
investigate the death of her ex-boyfriend RJ. She's been
away for a few years and has drifted out of touch with the Mek
culture on the street, where she's now seen as an outsider.
On paper, that ought to be a decent angle
to begin an exploration of the Mek culture and get into the
interesting stuff, but it doesn't quite come off. Part
of the problem is that the Mek culture we see isn't all that
distinctive. There's a bit of an all-purpose cyberpunk
quality here, and while the defensive, tribal side of the Mek
users is played up effectively, the book barely scratches the
surface of the more interesting question - why people would
turn themselves into cyborgs in the first place.
We're not told much - well,
anything really - about RJ and it's difficult to care much
what happened to him. It doesn't help that the plot is
advanced with some thoroughly generic dialogue. ("No one
else is interested in RJ, Sarissa. You shouldn't be
either." "I was with him for four years, Eddie. I
can't just let him go like that." "Learn to." And
so on...) I realise it's just a peg to hang the ideas
on, but it's just not that engaging a story.
Steve Rolston, the artist on the Pounded
miniseries, is a slightly odd choice for this series.
The rather cartoony quality to his work was a good fit for
Pounded, a book which was basically a sitcom. Here,
he seems to struggle to find a distinctive visual identity for
his Mek culture, and the book seems overshadowed by its
influences. The cover art is beautiful, but the interior
work never really seems to get to grips with the potential in
the idea.
It's an interesting idea, but it
doesn't really work.
Rating: B-
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