DEFIANCE #3
"The Messenger, Part Three"
Recommended (8/10)
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Image Comics
Writer: Douglass D. Barre
Artists: Kanno Kang & Zack Suh
Letters: Robert Chong
Editor: Kwangsik Koh
Price: $2.95 US/$4.50 CAN |
The strength of Defiance is twofold. First of all, we have Barre's script, which instills a strong sense of personality in the key players in this drama, making the alien setting and circumstances of the plot more palatable and grounding the apocalyptic, supernatural tone of the book. And then we have the art, stunning in its level of detail and texture. When Image Comics launched a decade ago, people looked to it for new, cutting edge ideas and visuals; we didn't get it then, but we are now, thanks to titles like Defiance.
The haunting but demonic Cleo uses her soul-self to track down Ivan, who's just running through the city, desperate to stay out of Hell and out of the line of fire here on Earth. The vulnerable Cleo-double catches up with Ivan, but so does a horde of Satan's monstrous soldiers, all bent on preventing Ivan from carrying out Syrus's plans. Cleo does her best to protect Ivan, while Lym takes on some earthly opposition, sent by another one of Satan's agents.
The rich but dark art continues to stand out as the strongest quality of Defiance. The childlike appearance of Cleo's other self granted her character a degree of tenderness, but the artists maintain a supernatural, disturbing tone to her character as well. They present a twisted, horrific vision of the future, but what's truly unsettling about it is its realism. The colors reinforce the dark, haunted tone of the story as well.
Barre employs a mad imagination to construct a cracked funhouse mirror image of the world in this book. The well armed police squadrons are offputting, not because of what they do (or attempt to do) in this book, but because the idea really isn't that far removed from what we see on the news. The war on terrorism and attempts to keep G7 protestors in line summon up similar images.
Of course, bringing the supernatural elements down-to-earth isn't as easy as the socio-political ones. Barre pulls it off by granting the lead protagonist, Ivan, with a genuine narrative voice. His disbelief, fatigue and desire for some familiar and comforting makes it easy to relate to him. He is our doorway into the bizarre, surreal world of Defiance, as are Cleo and Lym, whose colloquial tones serve the same purpose, but to a lesser extent.
Note: This comic book was not among this week's new releases.
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