Mind the Gap #2 – Review

By: Jim McCann (story), Rodin Esquejo & Sonia Oback (art)

The Story: No one likes a show-off, not even when you’re in a coma.

The Review: At this early juncture of a mystery, I rarely go for any serious speculation as to the “who” in “whodunit.”  This seems especially important here since we really know very little about our victim at this point other than a theater background and a luxury upbringing.  We still only have a vague sense as to the nature of her relationships.  We can’t even confidently say the personality she displays in the Garden is the same as in the waking world.

Without a firmer grasp on all these things, it’d be quite a stretch to have a culprit, even a theoretical one, in mind since the most important factor is missing: motive.  At the end of the day, that really is the deciding element in why any of a mystery’s conflict happens in the first place.  And that’s not even accounting for completely out-of-the-blue twists, like an elaborate evil scheme for which the victim is just an unlucky pawn—or when the culprit turns out to be gloriously insane in the end, somehow disguising it for ninety-nine percent of the story.

In this case, McCann gives us the possibility of all three of those things.  Already you can tell there’s some kind of tension between Elle and her brother, boyfriend, and mother that may reveal itself as a legit motive, given more history.  Certainly all this backing-up of files and car explosions indicate a bigger-scale plot at work than mere personal drama.  And considering the already disturbing shadiness from Min, Eddie, and Dane, “just plain crazy” may come into play.

Better for us to ignore all these mixed signals and red herrings, at least for now, with such limited information.  When Elle’s dad throws a glass against the wall and mutters, “What have I done?” it could mean, “How could I have screwed my own daughter like this?”  But it could very easily also mean, “How the hell did I marry such a coldhearted [insert female-specific epithet here]?”  Remember: the person you suspect first almost never turns out correct.

It’d be more fruitful and fun to focus on the more metaphysical parts of the story.  Clearly, we have no ordinary crime and victim here.  Elle’s ability to leap into the bodies of others, at least while the consciousness of said other person is trapped elsewhere, seems unprecedented, but we only have Bobby’s limited and unreliable experience to fall back on.  This issue hints this power may not be innate to Elle (in other words, she’s not a mutant), but something that’s been induced in her, if her involvement with Crenshaw means anything.  I mean, he has a shiny briefcase and computer files people apparently want to preserve; that’s got to mean some sketchy business.

Another interesting thing to consider is who will be the designated detectives in solving all this?  Although McCann emphasizes that “everyone’s a suspect,” I’m gonna go out on a limb and say Gina is less likely to belong in that category.  We’ve too intimately seen her determined efforts to piece together Elle’s unusual condition and her own co-worker’s possible malpractice, and so she shows a sincerity too strong to ignore.  The fact she’s so blatant about her suspicion makes her even more credible; if her motives for investigating Elle were unscrupulous in some way, she probably wouldn’t be so forthright with either Dr. Hammond or her detective wife.

Esquejo continues to deliver solid work which only just barely misses the photo-realistic bar, but in a good way.  When the imagery crosses that line, it tends to become too static, losing all sense of motion and even emotion.  Esquejo’s characters pack megawatts of energy, and you can see their thoughts in the barest detail of their features, the particular crease of an eyebrow exuding hope, exhaustion, self-loathing, or suspicion even without dialogue.

Conclusion: This could very well be the start of something big, given the innumerable threads spiraling from the central figure’s predicament.  If McCann can maintain this steady momentum, it’ll be worth sticking around for.

Grade: B+

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: – Oh, man, Cagney and Gacey reference.  Love it.

– I really enjoy the fact Dane and Jo have this intense conversation in a dark basement—about backstage operations: “Got Hunter a new shirt…  We have enough divas on stage.”