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Review: The Wake #2

By | June 28th, 2013
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

So we pretty much loved the first issue of this ten-part Vertigo series – but then, we were kind of expecting to love it, because it’s Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy, and that was always going to be a genius pairing. Happily enough, this series seems to be nailing the follow-through as it takes us even deeper into this aquatic mystery.

Written by Scott Snyder
Illustrated by Sean Murphy

They call it the “Ghost Rig”–a secret underwater oilrig filled with roughnecks and scientists on the brink of an incredible discovery. But when things go horribly wrong, this scientific safe haven will turn into a house of horrors at the bottom of the ocean!

Lee Archer, a specialist in whale calls, has been taken to a clandestine underwater oilrig to study a mysterious fishman, and if you just said, “Abe? Is that you?” nobody will blame you. Unfortunately, this specimen’s a little less forthcoming than Abe, and the only thing anybody has to go on is the screeching call it won’t stop making.

Meanwhile, some even weirder things seem to be going down just at the edge of everybody’s perceptions, and the most brilliant thing about this issue likely is this emphasis on dreams and hallucinations. If there’s any place the line between real and imaginary is going to feel dangerously thin, it’s deep underwater and far away from home, and both Snyder and Murphy capitalize on this sense of claustrophobia and isolation beautifully. There’s clearly more to this situation than anybody is telling us, and the fact that we seem to be getting at the truth of it by means of the characters’ most paranoid imaginings ramps the suspense up considerably. This emphasis on dream imagery even casts the cliffhanger into doubt, adding even more to the intrigue.

True, the story is moving along pretty slowly; while a few theories as to the fishman’s origin are spun out over the course of the issue, we learn very little in terms of concrete facts. But there’s something to be said for slow-burn, atmospheric mystery in a creator-owned title, and when the going is this easy on the eyes, it’s hard to complain.

We basically never stopped raving about Murphy’s miniseries “Punk Rock Jesus”, where he took on both writing and art duties and knocked both straight out of the park, but seeing his work as part of a collaboration is just as interesting. Pulpy, detailed, shadowy and precise, it’s hard to imagine an art style that would be a better match to the themes that are beginning to emerge here. And the diversity of subject matter – mammoths, sharks, laboratory equipment, and, most importantly, stuff exploding – really showcases Murphy’s range, with the animals in particular practically leaping off the page.

Murphy’s also great at getting a lot of information across in little space, and even on densely packed pages, the flow of information feels natural. The theories surrounding the fishman come through with a lot of breathing room despite their complexity, while more cinematic pages involving wide shots of undersea life make the most of the extra room for telling detail.

It’s kind of odd seeing Murphy’s work in colour, but Matt Hollingsworth does a beautiful job of it, populating this story with all kinds of great mauves and turquoises and getting across a textured, vintage feel without resorting too much to underwater greys and blues. It’s a great-looking comic to begin with, but the subtlety in terms of palette choice adds so much.

As things stand, there’s definitely more going on visually in “The Wake” than there is plotwise. But then, there’s every indication that this slow-moving story is going to build into something big as the details begin to stack up. And besides, what happens on the last page of this issue is bound to have one heck of a follow-up explanation. I mean, one would hope so, right?

Final Verdict: 9.0 – Buy


Michelle White

Michelle White is a writer, zinester, and aspiring Montrealer.

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