“The Fuse” made a good first impression, setting up a lively sci-fi world and a familiar buddy-cop dynamic. But as the plot thickens, the sheer amount of exposition required is slowing things down.
Written by Antony Johnston
Illustrated by Justin Greenwood“THE RUSSIA SHIFT,” Part Two
Two dead cablers. Two MCPD murder police. One of them is an FGU. One vic leads to Midway City Hall. The other leads into the cables of SOLAR 1. The LT is furious. I-SEEC won’t help them. But the ME can.
“Someone want to run all that by me again? In English?”
As Klem and Dietrich continue their investigations, the strongest aspect of this story is still their unusual dynamic. We don’t know a whole lot about their pasts, but the way they interact gives us insight after insight into their personalities. Between Johnston’s clever dialogue and Greenwood’s apt characterizations, it’s easy to imagine the competing voices of these two characters. And all the while, there’s a balance between banter and brass tacks, with the investigation moving forward slowly but surely.
If “The Fuse” has a primary failing, it’s that it’s trying to do too much. It’s an admirable failing: I want this buddy-cop sci-fi match-up to work, and it very nearly does. But maintaining a balance between two different genres without undermining one or the other is tricky, and it’s hard to say why the police station use corded phones, except that it makes things look more like Law and Order. Similarly, I still find it hard to believe that the investigative force on a space station would be so minimal. It’s a detail that adds direness to the plot without making logical sense – and in a setting this precarious, you’d think there would be more believable sources of tension.
The amount of information that has to be relayed for either side of the story to work makes for a dense, slow-moving issue, with some panels having to be re-read before they’re understood. The issue definitely gets where it’s going, laying down a cliffhanger that amplifies the implications of this murder mystery; but the journey there feels longer than it should.
Justin Greenwood’s art is, as I said, most remarkable for the characterizations. Much of the focus seems to be Klem – she’s got a weathered old face that gets across plenty of expression, and her hunched poses add even more character. Dietrich is a little more remote, but his goofy expression when he makes a bad joke does a lot to keep him sympathetic.
Besides Klem and Dietrich’s flinty dynamic, we get a convincing portrayal of a mayor, with the political poses – humbleness, defiance, sincerity – coming across all too clearly. Space politics aren’t all that different from the earthly kind, it seems, with his advisors getting across different shades of fierce and calculating.
All the while, the backgrounds are simple, keeping our eyes to the foreground. The only shaky moment in this department involves a set of venetian blinds that cast unusually angled shadows, even for hardboiled noir. Otherwise, though, Greenwood has a handle on the background detail, rendering just enough of it to give us a handle on our situation. There is a lot going on in this story, and the uncluttered pages keep the forward momentum.
You’ll never go wrong with the Bri$$ on letters, and despite the large volume of text on most pages, the flow of the dialogue is clear. Shari Chankhamma, meanwhile, gets kudos for the understated palette of this universe, keeping the vibe hardboiled with beiges and subtle blues.
This second issue of “The Fuse” proceeds in much the same vein as the first, and if you were hooked then, you’ll definitely enjoy what’s going on here. There is a sense of fun inherent to any genre mash-up, and the character work here keep the core of the story relatable. If you’re willing to suspend your belief a little, it’s an entertaining, if slow-moving, read; and the gradual build-up of this story promises a solid pay-off down the line.
Final Verdict: 7.8 – Browse
