Eric Stephenson and Nate Bellegarde have been creating a crazy, labyrinthine mystery with “Nowhere Men” so far, but the build up has been at a glacial pace. After five issues, have things finally started to pick up?
Written by Eric Stephenson
Illustrated by Nate Bellegarde
Dead to the world.
Long running character based mysteries aren’t anything new, especially to comics, but there’s just been something about “Nowhere Men” so far that has made it stand out. There’s something about the world that the creative team of this issue has slavishly created and sculpted that makes the story they’re telling so much more engaging. In this issue, Stephenson manages to touch on all of the strands of story that were laid down in the previous issues and tug them out just a little bit more, but perhaps not enough. Dade Ellis, still freshly awake from a coma, gives a strange revelation to Emerson Strange while the circumstances around the crash of the WorldCorp space station are investigated. Meanwhile, the team from the Space Station are still disbanded and stranded and are trying to figure out their locations. That’s a lot of story to cover and while Stephenson does manage to touch on each one, the story progression just isn’t at the level it maybe should be.
The idea of a slow burn, character intrigue mystery does exactly what it says on the tin: it creates intrigue and allows the reader to connect with the characters as the pieces of the puzzle slowly fall into place. And Stephenson and company are definitely building a very slow burn mystery. Each of the characters has such a diverse sense of character voice that it’s hard not to think of them as actual people rather than simply characters, such is the testament to Stephenson’s writing. He has created a cast of characters that are engaging and intriguing as whole while each of the characters are instantly relateable and unique. There are many character moments in this issue, both significant to the story and smaller, more personal moments, and they all serve to build the sense of the characters as individuals for the reader to connect with.
However, while Stephenson has managed to create a genuine intrigue to the mystery he is setting up by way of engaging characters, the actual plot is where the series unfortunately falls down. The series is five issues in so far and while each issue has had at least one major plot development, it feels like there’s been very little in the way of actual progress. Dade and Ellis are practically still having the same conversation they started last issue and the groups of scientists from the Space Station seem to be at a stand still as the investigate just where they’ve ended up. The amount of different plot branches that Stephenson has created has meant that he is spread too thin in trying to forward them in the space available with each issue.
Another reason why “Nowhere Men” has been so engrossing despite it’s almost glacial pace has been the second-to-none world building. This is thanks to pages dedicated to in-universe advertisements and magazine interviews to flesh out the world. This issue features, among other things, a two-page magazine interview about punk scientist Esme accompanied with a gorgeous profile from Nate Bellegarde that just adds a life to the world of the series outside of what we see on-panel. The world seems ever growing and changing with each issue as the world-building backmatter (or in-bewteen-the-pages-matter) gives the reader more information outside of what’s happening with the characters.
The series wouldn’t quite be what it is without artist Nate Bellegarde. While Stephenson manages to give each character a distinct and unique character voice, it’s Bellgarde’s art that really make them all stand out. Each character looks like a completely unique person in their own right with unbelievably well-rendered features. Bellegarde doesn’t just excell at character modelling, he can make the most fantastic elements of the story fit right into place with the hard boiled science intrigue. Kurt, one of the science members of the crashed Space Station, has been transformed as of the last couple issues into a giant red monster and yet somehow does not look out of place in the series entirely thanks to Bellegarde’s art. The colors by Jordie Bellaire also help to give the the book a vibrant style, keeping a fantastic aesthetic from overwhelming the more serious moments of the story.
Continued belowSpecial mention must go to series letterer and graphic designer Fonografiks for creating the excellent design aesthetic for the book, merging the retro science feel of WorldCorp with the modern, more sleek science fiction look. Everything helps to build the aesthetic of the world in order to engross the reader in the universe of the book.
Stephenson and Bellgarde have created an engrossing and engaging world of intrigue and mystery with excellent characters, but unfortunately the strength of the world building sacrifices the progression of the plot. Five issue in already and very little actual progress seems to be made. Hopefully either things pick up or this book might be marked down as all style and no substance.
Final Verdict: 7.8 – A buy in order to engross yourself in the world in characters, just try not to focus on how slow the plot moves.
