One Plus One is beginning to look like a series that will read a whole lot better in the trade, when everything is laid out and becomes clear in one sitting rather than separated by one-month intervals. My take on the series is pretty much the same as it's been from the beginning: It's a great read with distinctive artwork, and the story itself is riveting, but the way the story is playing out is such that no one is going to know what's going on until the end. It's structured like a mystery, but it's not really in the mystery genre, and that throws me a little bit. But the dialogue, the characters and the overall setting are inescapably fascinating, and I love it even when I don't know what's going on.
Once again, it's the characterization and dialogue that really stands out in One Plus One. Shaffer and Krall manage to say a lot about these characters with what's going on between the lines, and you have to learn to read what's really going on in their head as opposed to what they're saying, just like in real life. Particularly strong is the relationship between Eddie and Celeste, as Celeste clearly has a view of Eddie that doesn't fit the reality, and Eddie is all too adept at manipulating her.
Despite this slimy aspect of the character, he makes for a very engaging protagonist. Perhaps it's easy to relate to a guy who's just trying to make his way in life, and who finally sees his shot, or perhaps it's once again the strength of the dialogue, but even though I don't really like Eddie, I'm very interested in seeing where the story takes him. The interaction between Eddie and David has some great moments where David is almost playing with his new protege, mocking his approach to poker up to this point and basically calling him a loser without outright saying it.
The plot structure of the story is becoming clearer in this issue than it has been in the past two, although it's not likely to make much sense except to those who remember all the events of the first two issues pretty strongly. But seeing David manipulating Eddie down a certain path, and then seeing him decide to use Leonard as a geiger counter of sorts for his work says a lot about David and who and what he is, as well as leaving some intriguing hints about the overall shape of the story.
This was probably the strongest issue of One Plus One so far, with several very strong scenes of character interaction and some definite movement on the plot front as well. I'm beginning to appreciate the creators' style of showing rather than telling more and more, and I've come to realize that when the whole story is over and done with, my complaints about not knowing what's going on will be transitory, related more to the serial nature of the format than the story itself.
