This first issue of “The Empty” is off its rocker. I say this in the nicest possible way. But it’s not often you get to read a comic that’s so odd it’s dizzying. The off-kilter sense of atmosphere – the sense that Robinson’s world operates according to some unusual rules indeed – makes this Shadowline title worth a read.
Written and illustrated by Jimmie Robinson
Tanoor lives in an empty apocalyptic world of poison and decay. Her village is all that remains of humanity as they struggle against mutant beasts and rotting bones. But Tanoor finds a chance to save her people when a stranger drifts into town. A stranger armed with the power to grow life from death. A stranger who could change the world—if Tanoor can keep them alive in the deadly world of The Empty.
If you’re a reviewer who opts for sci-fi first issues most of the time, you’ve encountered your fair share of post-apocalyptic wasteland stories. But I can guarantee that – aesthetically, anyway – you – I – have never seen anything like this.
We loved Jimmie Robinson’s “Five Weapons” right from the beginning, and while it lost steam over time, there was no denying its simple appeal. The way its well-worn formula (boarding school for exceptional kids) combined with its whimsical characterizations made it addictive.
Here, in “The Empty”, you’ve got the same foundation: a formula we’ve all read before. But this time, rather than going for whimsical, Robinson pushes the imagery far, far into the realm of the surreal. How surreal? Well. Our heroine has extra-long arms and wears nothing but bandages. The stranger who comes to town looks like a Kayan Lahwi who’s evolved for sea life. The monsters who threaten the village are part-dog, part-rabbit, all terrifying.
It would be one thing if Robinson had stopped there; but the alien feeling goes much deeper. There’s something self-consciously odd about the compositions; they pull the eye in unusual patterns across the page, all without resorting to unorthodox layouts. Maybe it’s all the lanky arms that do it; they make for unusual lines of sight.
The dialogue follows a similarly disorienting scheme, although I would argue that it’s less successful. The high-sounding phrases the characters use are all too familiar. I’m a fan of plain-spoken people in science fiction comics, I guess. And I can’t be the only reader who feels like no apocalypse, however dire, would have us speaking like the lovechildren of Yoda and John Donne.
The story plots a pretty direct course; Tanoor and her people stand to gain by the stranger who comes to town, and Tanoor is very clear about her practical motivations. The stranger is airy-fairy in contrast to this pragmatism; she clearly has many talents, but isn’t liable to express herself without being drawn out. The tension between these two very different characters keeps the comic moving forward.
I wouldn’t say that this is a smooth read; the compositions, as I mentioned, slow things up a little, as does the unwieldy dialogue. I’d say this is more of a novel read than a great one; there’s enough interest to keep you reading, but enough pushing you away to make it a bit of a struggle.
Robinson’s colours do put rather a fine gloss on it all, though. The desert terrain and the forests of the stranger’s homeland both come across with vibrancy, and the two distinct palettes play off each other well.
Viewed in a macro sense, there’s an intrinsic sense of fun to “The Empty” – a feeling that “Five Weapons” shared in. It’s hard to say what elements conspire to add up to this feeling, but Robinson’s tendency toward iconic images – Tanoor silhouetted with her clunky arm-guards – certainly doesn’t hurt.
It’s exciting to see Jimmie Robinson’s work again, and this title is a sure bet for anyone who loved “Five Weapons” – or “Bomb Queen”, for that matter. There’s no saying whether the story will hold up over time, but for the moment, there’s enough weirdness – tempered with solid storytelling – for “The Empty” to feel more than half-full.
Final Verdict: 7.0 – Off to an intriguing start; we’ll see whether the atmosphere can be sustained.
