I remember visiting Disney World as a kid and taking in the famous It's a Small World ride. This issue of Guardian sees the characters taking a smiliar ride. But it's not boring. It's not sugar-coated. Morrison examines the immensity of the world's problems by presenting them in the context of a microcosm, and it makes for remarkably effective storytelling and commentary. Of course, he balances this social and political side with a personal story that unfolds in flashback. It's all brilliantly illustrated by Cameron Stewart, but what's most interesting about the art is watching the evolution of the artist's style.
A husband and wife scientist team -- Jorge and Hanna Control -- have established a model world on Ellis Island and have opened it to the public as a theme park to show off the planet's cultural diversity. There's just one problem: Jorge's sick of his domineering wife directing the scope and goals of the project, so he decides to alter the robotic "villagers" of the park to reflect the real political leanings of the nations they represent. Lives are endangered, and there's a news story to be had. Enter the journalistic super-hero, Guardian. But just as the Controls' world has gone haywire, so has the Guardian's.
It's easy to see the same sort of simple style here that Stewart brought to previous projects, such as Catwoman and Seaguy, but more detail is finding its way into his art with Guardian. I'm actually quite struck by how much Stewart's work on this book reminds me of Darick Robertson's pencils on the landmark Transmetropolitan. Of course, Stewart also evokes the late, great Jack Kirby, but when illustrating a Guardian comic, that's to be expected. Moose Baumann does some great work with the colors. I love the warm but unsettling colors in the latter part of the story. Baumann has really grown as a colorist over the past year or so, turning heads not just on this book but on Green Lantern: Rebirth as well.
When it comes to the conflict in the title character's personal life (as told in flashbacks in this issue), I'm a bit torn. I completely see why he's blindsided by the disintegration of his relationship. Jake feels in control, feels confident and feels valued. He's earning great money by helping people, and he's making a difference. But then again, his life has become insane. His fiancee's father is dead as a result of that insanity. Jake's regained his self-worth, but he's lost so much in the process. It's an interesting scenario with no easy answers.
Morrison's editorial about the ugly state of the world isn't a subtle one, but it's thoroughly effective. I don't think he's so much turning a critical eye at unnecessary conflict in the world, but rather, he's shining a spotlight on our ignorance of the seriousness of those problems. In Western minds, the severity of a problem is usually conversely proportional with how distant one is from the problem, and Morrison eliminates that distance with his premise. 9/10
