The nature versus Nurture debate is finally settled in this adventurous book filled with copy after copy of the main character.
Written by David Schulner
Illustrated by Juan Jose RypDr Luke Taylor is not alone: he is a clone.
Hidden from the public are countless men who appear identical to him, but none are ever the same. Some welcome him as a brother. Others want him and his family to die at their hands. The conspiracy behind the clones’ existance is more dangerous than Luke can handle alone… and stretches further than he can ever imagine.
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The book kicks off with a chase scene, one man running after another through a neighborhood. After a scuffle, the man being chased is shot. The same (looking) man, Luke wakes up sweating in bed from this apparent nightmare. Shortly thereafter, he finds a man who looks exactly like him in the kitchen with a gunshot wound. From there, Luke learns he’s identical to hundreds of other men, all secretly created by the government for a mysterious purpose, and now targeted for extinction. He joins a group seeking to preserve themselves and tries to avoid a clone who hopes to be the last one standing.
Schulner utilizes the tried and true method of using Luke, the newcomer to this situation, as an audience surrogate. Doing so gives him a fitting situation to dump a large amount of exposition, but he breaks no new ground with the delivery. Despite the uncommon premise, the story goes pretty much the way you probably expect it to go after reading the solicitation. The final page of this volume is delivered like it’s a huge twist, but the setup is so obvious you’ll see it coming long before you get to it. It also comes with an explanation which makes so little since, it just has to be a lie.
To his credit, Schulner is trying to build a world larger than his story. The inclusion of politicians and doctors who aren’t directly relavant to the plot yet hint toward larger plots and ideas the series will hopefully get around to exploring. His characters have rich backstories, but haven’t been able to show much depth just yet. Now that the plot is up and moving, hopefully we’ll get to see Luke explore the emotional side of his situation instead of just reacting to it.
Ryp’s art, like always, is hyper-detailed almost to the point of excess. Two of his signature moves – intricately rendered hair and using dots to shade and show depth – are ever present. Where other artists may have struggled to differentiate the various versions of Luke, Ryp shines. Without resorting to obivious tricks like scars or outrageous hair styles, Ryp conveys distinction and personality through a part in the hair, a five o’clock shadow, or a slightly heavier or slimmer face.
It’s his style, but there was one facet of Ryp’s art which seemed extremely out of place: the explosions which accompanied every punch and kick.
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These are easier to overlook in Ryp’s superhero work, like “Black Summer”, but just don’t fit with the real world setting of “Clone”. Neither the explosions or fights occur much in the book, which is built more on talking and suspense than action, but their infrequent appearances just make them all the more noticable when they’re on panel.
This collection includes five chapters and comes in two dollars below the cost of buying them singly. The trade also features six pages from Ryp’s sketchbook. The first two are of the process to create the cover for the collection with commentary from editor Sean Mackiewicz. The other four are early character designs with Schulner providing some background information on them. It’s not particularly in-depth information, but it’s worth a glance.
Final Verdict: 5.5 – Browse
