Some captivating artwork from a new name (new to me, anyway) and some palpably emotional storytelling overcome the fact that this is the latest attempt to tap into the popularity of video games for the benefit of a comic book. From adaptations to stories about video games, that interactive entertainment medium seems to turn up in the world of comics time and time again, and to be honest, it rarely does much for me. I hope the remainder of the series does what this first issue does quite well, and that's to delve into the crippling power of grief.
Matthew Delaney is a ghost in his own life. He wanders like a zombie through the halls at school, hears no questions in class and buries himself in nothing but video games when he's at home. His sister, Candice, is gone, reported missing, and he misses her terribly. His family is trying to pick up the pieces and move on, but Matthew is stuck in a limbo of emotional nothingness. When he receives a new experimental video-game from his dad, though, it brings Candice -- or a reasonable facsimile -- back into his life.
Andrasofszky's work reinforces that ghostly quality in the Matthew character perfectly. There's a hazy look in the combination of linework and colors, and the artist uses sparse backgrounds to isolate the character. Now, I have to admit a general disinterest in the video-game elements of the story, and that holds true with the artwork as well. The virtual Candice character design is rather generic and unengaging, and it's so clearly outside of the everyday, it works against the notion that Matthew could believe it's his sister simply dressed in weird clothing.
The conventional sci-fi/horror influences shines through in this origin story, and to be honest, it comes off as rather derivative. Anime influences are apparent as well, though they seem to be primarily visual ones. The notion of a video-game character coming to life -- a la action-movie cop entering the real world in The Last Action Hero-- may appeal to those whose thumbs are bruised from too many hours of gameplay, but I'm not one of them.
What really caught my attention was Matthew. Adolescence is tough enough without some kind of tragedy in one's immediate family, and Abnett and Lanning's portrayal of a kid who's suddenly lost in his own grief is a thoroughly grounded and convincing notion. It's clear why he's immersed himself in video games above all else. In that world, he has control, and in the world in which his sister (who seems to have been his best friend) is missing, he has none.
