I was surprised when the first issue of Fused came out and I found it to be fun and beautifully executed. Then, months went by and my enthusiasm faded, even moreso when I learned that a different artist would be taking over as of #3. The timing issues and new artist (talented, but also a step down in suitability to the book) has sapped some of my enthusiasm for the story, but I'm still very much enjoying Niles's take on the man-machine interface, and his introduction of an Authority-esque superteam (in terms of the way they act, anyway) this issue worked surprisingly well, given that I liked Fused more as a high-tech thriller than a super-hero book.
Fused is an unusual book with a tone I can't quite put my finger on. There's darkness to it, as the supposed allies as well as the enemies of protagonist Dr. Haggerty are not the nicest of people, with sinister motivations and methods. But there's also a sense of humor, as shown in the parody of the U.S. President and Vice President in the opening sequence, or in the dark humor of the Implementers team and their personalities. I also very much enjoyed the shift this issue as the computer and Mark Haggerty shared personality traits, so that Niles steers clear of the computer as straight man and human as the one with the personality. The blending of their attributes is a clever way to show the affect that the fusing has had on them, as well as a way to establish two distinct and likable characters instead of just one guy with a robot sidekick.
The pacing of Fused is a problem, though, and it's a problem on a larger scale. Each issue has plenty of action, a nice cliffhanger, and some solid character development, but we're also three issues in and we haven't really gotten that far into the protagonist's origin yet. Which is where we hit the real problem that Fused has suffered from, a cast of rotating artists that makes New X-Men look positively stable. Brad Rader is a real talent, and his work here is solid, if not as spectacular as the work he did on Catwoman. Unfortunately, he's not as suited to the book as Paul Lee, and while most of the book looks great, the main character looks a little too super-hero and not enough high-tech. I'm also not thrilled at the prospect of Ben Templesmith bringing his rather abstract style to such a concrete style of book in the next issue, as it seems another step away from the great artwork that took me by surprise in the first place.
That's really a problem for future issues, though, one that does dampen my enthusiasm for the series overall, but a future problem nevertheless. Rader's work, aside from the suit style I mentioned earlier, is terrific here. His exaggerated work on the Implementers helps to establish them as badasses in their own minds, and he conveys the surroudings of Los Angeles during the chase in a believable manner. Even more impressive to me, however, is the backup art by Diego Jourdan, which reminds me of Eduardo Risso or early Frank Miller, shadowy and stylish while being perfectly clear in storytelling. The backup story is short, and we get only a glimpse of Jourdan's art, but it leaves me hungry for more, and I hope he will land a larger assignment soon.
Niles clearly has plenty of neat ideas, whether it's the lead character's fusion of man and machine or a more realistic look at the personal politics and in-fighting of an official government team. As he says in the text page, if it ever hits its stride it could be a great book. Unfortunately, right now it's still stumbling through real-world problems like artist changes and an unbelievably messed-up shipping schedule (no doubt related), and I hope we'll see both of those corrected soon.
