Consequences catch up with us all in the end.
Creative Staff:
Story:Jonathan Tsuei & Eric Canete
Art: Eric Canete
What They Say:
The hunt is on! Rain’s past and present collide as “The Origami,” a military force tasked to capture her, begin to tighten their circle. Janus enters and offers a final chance of reprieve. And finally: DINOSAURS!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Though it didn’t knock it out of the park for me, the opening issue of Runlovekill was a strong one for me in how it presented an interesting world that would take some time to immerse yourself in before you could really get all the nuance and details of it. There’s some great layering to it and a lot of it left you wanting to know more, even as we largely spent our time with the ground level character of Rain Oshiro as she was doing her best to get out of Prygat and move on. Seeing her wheeling and dealing and the way it was going to impact her friend Dey was a positive, as was seeing things crash out on her by not going to plan in the end. With some strong artwork and design as well, it had reminded me a lot of some of the later Matt Wagner Grendel books.
The second installment does move things forward now that Rain is basically in wait mode until the next day before she can get moving again, which means she’s intent on just drinking it away so she doesn’t have to remember it. It’s obviously not a smart move in a sense, but as we get a few more details from the other side of the story, it at least makes a little sense. The idea that Rain had left the organization and has been in hiding for two years shows she’s fully capable of keeping out of their line of sight and operating well enough that surely she’s had some down time. And now that events have moved as they have, she’s likely feeling a bit secure in that she’s about to get out and that it’s mostly going to plan. So relaxing a little may seem like the worst move ever, and it is, but it’s also an understandable one considering the amount of time she’s managed to pull all of this off. Heading to a big, loud and colorful night club in order to disappear into a massive crowd certainly works.
Of course, with all that’s gone on and the way the tracking of her from Janus and that side has gone, they’ve been closing in on for some time and they’re essentially down to knowing it really is here. There’s some neat little moments in the dialogue between those on this side as Janus wants to make it up close and personal while others are just intent on steamrolling her to be done with it all. That leads to Janus getting up close to her in the club and while it’s reminiscent of a scene from Terminator, it plays out well in showing how Rain panics and the smoothness that Janus uses in getting closer to her and making it clear that he’s waited a long time for this moment. Which is a delaying tactic in itself since there’s a strike team bout to drop in from above. It may be smooth and clean from that perspective, but it has that feeling of things about to hit the fan in a big way.
In Summary:
Runlovekill begins advancing things here by giving us a little time with some of Rain and Janus’ background with time they spent in the service together and how problematic she was even then, and getting a handle on the timeline of events with how long Rain’s been on the run definitely alters perceptions in a good way of her. This installment is all about the buildup and tension as she attempts to get through this last night before her escape while we see Janus and his group inching closer and closer. What really sells it for me though is that hope that the big picture view of the world will all click eventually, but also the really striking artwork here from Eric Canete. There’s so much great background design and detail that it feels fully realized in a sea of comics where backgrounds and incidental effects are minimal at best. It feels lived in, tight, cramped and very full of other people existing in these spaces. And that sense of atmosphere and population density, particularly in the club with the panel layout and the people in it with all their varied designs, drives this home beautifully. It’s a strong work that’s finding its voice and direction overall and I can definitely see this being a really engaging overall work when all is said and done.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Image Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: May 13th, 2015
MSRP: $2.99
