By: Nathan Edmondson (writer) and Tonci Zonjic (art)
The Story: An international man-of-action has a ghostly protector named Jake Ellis.
What’s Good: I really liked Who is Jake Ellis #1. It kinda has the important elements for a story like this: (a) it was fun to read, (b) it had good action bits and (c) it had enough mystery that I want to read the next issue.
Let’s start with the concept: We open with a great scene of our main character, Jon Moore, (unclear if he is a spy, mercenary, criminal or what) having a violent misunderstanding with two of his colleagues. It is a neat scene, but a few of Moore’s spoken lines seem a little odd. Hmm… Was he perhaps talking to someone else?
Then we replay the scene where we can see Moore’s guardian angel, Jake Ellis. Suddenly you realize that Moore and Jake Ellis were speaking to each other. So, Moore’s lines kinda made sense if you didn’t see Jake standing there, but once Jake is revealed the scene takes on a wholly new context. Very cool! What I especially like is how the creators paced the retelling of the scene. That retelling scene was kinda the key for the whole series and if they had dropped the ball on the snappy pacing, as a reader you would just groan and move on. But they nailed it. Good for them for “going for it” right on page #1!
We’ve all probably thought at some point that having a guardian angel might be kinda cool, but Edmondson shows us that it isn’t all fun stuff. Not only is Jake Ellis there to help when the bullets are flying, but he’s there when Moore sleeps with a woman. He’s just creepily and wearily there to nag and shout warnings. One would imagine that he’s also there when Moore is taking a dump, picking his nose, etc. It seems like one of the other things this comic might explore is the complete lack of privacy from having a constant ghostly companion. Does Jake only speak about impending danger, or does he offer advice on how to perform other – ahem – tasks?
Zonjic’s art is just perfect for this comic. I wasn’t previously familiar with his work, but it reminds me a lot of David Aja. I caught a small similarity to Sean Phillips too (although not a huge one). I’m a big fan of both of those guys, so this is my way of saying the art is good. It isn’t hyper-detailed, but it tells the story very effectively. The coloring is also interesting. It isn’t flat color as there is a little bit of shading, but it is pretty close to flat. What shading there is mostly exists to convey shadow rather than body contours (that is all done with inks). I dunno about you, but I’m getting a little sick of all the superheroes having these shiny cheekbones and shoulders, so it is great to see an artist inking in contours.
What’s Not So Good: This is a minor bit because I really liked this comic, but the ending was a little odd for me. I read it and then flipped past the advertisement on the facing page to see if there was more. Part of it was that there was no “to be continued,” perhaps? Then I looked at the last page again, and told myself, “Actually, that is a perfectly fine way to end the comic. Why was I thinking that there might be something else?” Maybe that last panel just needed to be a little different (somehow) to convey “end of issue”. I don’t let it bother me much. The fun thing with new(er) creators is that they have cool ideas and I actually enjoy watching them figure things like that out. It didn’t detract from my desire to see issue #2.
You’re also going to get some nitpickers who point out that the concept of Jake Ellis is something we’ve seen in fiction, whether it is in Battlestar Galactica (Gaius Baltar) or a current comic like Haunt (the secret agent helping his brother, the priest). Disregard this bunch. Guardian angels are an old concept and I’m sure Edmondson will do something neat with it and his writing is always snappy.
Conclusion: A really good first issue. I’ll be in for the duration. If you are looking for a spy-type story with a minor supernatural twist, this is a good fit for you. Great art.
Grade: B+
– Dean Stell
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