Mind the Gap #1
Image Comics
Writer: Jim McCann
Artists: Rodin Esquejo & Sonia Oback
Rarely has a comic ever been this worth the money. For $2.99 you get 48 pages of story. Forty. Eight. That, right there, should blow your mind. If that wasn’t enough you get one of the most engrossing mysteries since “Lost” and art so gorgeous it’s sure to sweep during awards season.
Jim McCann has consistently been one of the best (and more overlooked) writers at Marvel for years. He’s broken off to do his own creator-owned work and the first thing we get is “Mind the Gap.” In just the first issue we build a structure so deep and solid that one cannot help but explore it. Elle Peterssen has been attacked and is in a coma at a local hospital. Her family and friends arrive at her bedside; some because they care and others because they have to. Some are so cold, some are scheming, all are hiding something. At the same time two doctors are bickering over who’s best to watch over her. The family doctor, Hammond, isn’t revealing everything he knows about Elle and Dr. Geller is going to go any length to find out what it is. Mysterious briefcases, hooded figures, cell phones, and clocks only touch the surface of the secrets this loaded book has to offer. The last piece of the puzzle offered up is Elle herself. She’s in limbo.
Limbo itself is a difficult place to navigate. Thankfully, she has a guide, who hints at secrets of his own. As she acclimates herself to her current place of residence we get glimpses and hints of seemingly useless things that are sure to arise in the future. Cliffhangers abound throughout the story until the jaw-dropping, brilliantly strange conclusion.
It’s been a long time since any form of media has been this engrossing. McCann’s ability to plot and write is astounding and excels here. “Mind the Gap” is all the great conspiracy shows like “X-Files” and “Lost” only with the long game planned out. This isn’t just something hodgepodged together, this is the best show you can possible read. McCann has written your new obsession. Take what he’s done with the story and add the incredible art by Rodin Esquejo and Sonia Oback and this is the perfect comic. What the artists are able to do in the limbo scenes is nothing short of gorgeous. They are able to bring a chaotic nature to the in-between space. But it’s all controlled by the figures stuck there. It’s a perfect teaming of artists that add another wonderful layer to an already excellent book.
This book is on level with the best being released. There is no shortage of intrigue and no way it’s going to slow down in the coming issues. Give the first issue a try and you’ll be hooked. The next issue cannot come quickly enough.
Jo Schmidt