Vertigo has a pretty good strike rate with new series, and with first issues. Y: The Last Man, Fables and Losers all started strong and continue to sit amongst my favorites list. Trigger does not start off as strong as those books, as it feels a little bit predictable throughout, but Hall does have some interesting ideas here that resonate with our increasingly corporate-controlled western world, and Watkiss turns in a beautiful and dark performance on art. Trigger is a science-fiction series, but like the best science-fiction, it's got strong parallels to real world issues and a central notion that is easy to relate to for the modern reader, as well as the fan of speculative fiction.
If there's one thing that bothers me about fiction that examines social problems, it's when that fiction is preachy or too obvious. Trigger falls into that trap a little bit, as Ethicorp and its officers are too nakedly obvious in their methods. Hall tries to show how the company has pulled the wool over the eyes of society with an oily PR man, but he's such an obvious weasel that it's difficult to see him convincing anyone of anything. The downsides of Ethicorp's seemingly beneficial programs would seem obvious to even the most dim-witted of viewers, and unfortunately, in the real world, sleazy corporate behavior is often hidden much more effectively. Of course, where this might have been a crippling problem before, in a world where Ari Fleischer held court over a cowed press corps and the Enron and Halliburton corporations act as they have with no real repercussions, it seems depressingly more plausible. I would have liked Ethicorp to be less of a cartoony, parody version of an evil corporation and instead have a little more subtlety, but it's not wholly unbelievable given the modern political context.
The central story of Trigger so far centers around a worker drone named Carter Lennox, a frustrated writer with a penchant for old-fashioned noir but a job that requires him to write product copy and travel endlessly. He's bored with his wife and kids, he's aware of Ethicorp's failings but lies to himself to allow himself to work for them and he just generally seems like one of those people miserable because he's intelligent enough to see all the problems he can't fix. Of course, as is traditional for the rundown normal guys, this is all a lie, and Carter actually has a far more interesting life, one that is hinted at in the opening sequence and throughout and then confirmed by a last page splash. I wish that Hall had held his cards a little closer to the vest so that this revelation were more of a surprise, but he plays fair with the reader in teasing it and the double life of Carter is indeed an interesting premise.
When it comes to visions of the future, Trigger resembles the Philip K. Dick style, notably the style of Dick as interpreted by filmmakers. The crowded city streets and towering buildings, combined with the omnipresent neon and corporate logos, calls to mind a mixture of the worlds of Blade Runner and Minority Report. There's also more than a little Orwell in here, notably the double-page splash of Ethicorp monitoring its citizens. Watkiss does a fantastic job of capturing this noir by way of science-fiction tone in his pages, and while Cox's colors can be a little bit oppressive, in general they give the whole thing a mixture of sheen and gritty texture that also perfectly fits the tone of the book.
It's too early to tell exactly what Trigger is about. A conspiracy tale about a man who is his own worst enemy? A fable about knowing yourself? A warning about the dangers of corporate dominance of the political sphere? An action setpiece with pulp leanings? Any of these elements separately would make for an interesting story, and all of them together sounds like a potent brew. Trigger #1 didn't blow me away as many Vertigo first issues have, but it's a solid first outing with plenty of potential. 8/10
