So: “Comeback” #1 was slow and a bit talky, but enjoyable overall. “Comeback” #2 has the same good bones to it, but is a little talkier; the pace of the series seems to be getting a little slower as more details are added to the mix, rather than quicker. These are the early warning signs of a potboiler, but the plot and sequence of events are still novel enough — and mysterious enough — to keep this issue interesting, if not exactly lively.
Written by Ed Brisson
Illustrated by Michael WalshAn FBI raid throws RECONNECT, an illegal time travel agency, into a panic. Trapped in the past, RECONNECT agent Mark Thomas has lost the woman whose life he was sent to save. He must find her and throw the FBI off his trail or lose his only method of getting back home.
Last issue threw us straight into a universe in which a company called Reconnect apparently goes into the past in order to save people’s lives. But already there were a few elements that didn’t add up, and here it definitely comes clear that there is more to Reconnect than that. Following two agents (partners) who don’t communicate much over the course of the issue, as well as a few (villainous?) characters that we don’t know much about yet, a couple of mysterious threads are spun out, with much of the issue consisting of scenes in which we don’t exactly know what we’re seeing, or what the significance of the event portrayed will be.
It’s a suspenseful — as well as slightly frustrating — way of setting down a story, but then, it does set us up well for some giant holy-crap reveals down the line. The trouble, at present, is that there isn’t much to invest us in these characters; opportunities for character development are spent making the plotline more puzzling and suspenseful, with potentially complex and compelling scenes (an agent talking to a version of himself from the future, for instance) cutting off before anything other than the most vital plot elements are relayed.
What with the dialogue-heavy scenes, Walsh isn’t being given a very broad spectrum of things to draw. Still, the character work continues on being candid and quite human — these all look and feel like flawed, conflicted people — and this does make up somewhat for the lack of character development in the script. The storytelling is still very precise, keeping the pages smooth and coherent even if the plot details of the scenes themselves are meant to be confusing, and there are fun little background details to be found every couple of pages. Bellaire’s colouring continues on being excellent, of course, and is likely the best thing about the opening scene, which features an explosion and the beautifully-conveyed glow of flames.
Still, it seems both Walsh and Bellaire’s talents have are best exhibited in the covers for this series, which are clean and graphic and eye-catching, making nice use of a white background paired with candy-coloured accents. The interiors look a little cluttered in comparison; it would have been nice to see some of that white space breaking up and accenting a storyline that is, above all, very dense.
Overall, this is a slow but solid issue that gradually builds on the mysteries presented in the first one, as well as throws in a few more. And so, while this is a very easy shot to take in regards to a miniseries, it seems that “Comeback” will be a much more satisfying read in trade. Still, this is a masterful work in that it is keeping us so much in the dark — having so much occur in each issue, and yet still managing to tell us so little. Compressed and condensed and utterly bewildering, “Comeback” keeps giving us handfuls of puzzle pieces to fiddle with; and try as we may to put them together, there are bound to be some big surprises down the line.
Final Verdict: 8.0 — Buy
