Mind the Gap #6 – Review

By: Jim McCann (story), Rodin Esquejo (pencils), Arif Prianto & Beny Maulana (colors)

The Story: Wherein we see the death of a girl’s inner child—literally.

The Review: As much as this series has gleefully danced around its mysteries, constantly taunting you with its tagline of “Everyone is a suspect.  No one is innocent!” the story itself has allowed us to make some early conclusions.  After all, we’re not idiots.  Even though McCann, as writer, always reserves the possibility that he will pull out some unlikely twist at the last second, he’s limited (or should be) by the groundwork he’s lain down so far.

I think all of us immediately sensed from the beginning that Elle has been the unlucky subject of some rather exotic experimentation.  Obviously, the details are a bit obscure, but the involvement of so many scientific professionals—not to mention the silver briefcase, the ultimate plot device of any mystery—pretty much tells us that however Elle’s special talents came about, they were more likely introduced than natural.

This issue confirms as much.  Spoiler alert—between Dr. Hammond’s technical mumbo-jumbo and Mrs. Peterssen’s foreboding vagaries (she refers to a “next phase” in Elle’s condition and her delivery to “the Facility”), we now know some elaborate work has been done to Elle, whether the attack that landed her in the hospital was a part of it or not—the jury’s still out on that point.  Clearly, however, the abilities she puts on display here were not the intended outcome.

A few new details about the conspiracy pop up.  This goes well beyond the characters introduced so far, as Mrs. P refers to “The Fifth, [Dr. Hammond’s] ‘Chief,’ [who] will want answers.”  Strangely, both doctor and mother refer to the patient not as Elle, but as “Ellis.”  And then there’s Elle’s mumbled ramblings while in the body of the sadly departed Katie:

“It sleeps exactly four days.  If it wakes up on the fourth day, it lives without change.  If it lives on the fifth day, it will live the following year with 9/10 probability.  If it lives the following year, it will—”

There’s something a little too specific and regular about this series of inscrutable phrases that make you suspect her words are referring to something important and real.  The tantalizing question then becomes: what is “it”?

I mentioned last time that our diverse array of characters have begun to find important intersections, ones that will catalyze the movement of the plot (which, I think we can all agree, has been steady, but lethargic, the very pulse of a comatose person).  Not only have Annie and Jo become allies in this, with Annie discovering an unexpectedly handy use of Elle’s out-of-body adventures, but now we see another alliance, less fortuitous, developing between Dane and Miles Gilbert—remember Miles?  Crenshaw’s nervous assistant with the hopelessly nerdy glasses?  Here’s to some complicated intrigue to come.

To demonstrate Esquejo’s emotive talents, I’d like to draw your attention to a one panel, one of Annie staring right at the “camera,” advising Jo what to do.  It’s a narrow panel, tight on Annie’s face, allowing us to be as intimate with her expression as Jo, and letting us see subtleties in her face that convince us to trust her as Jo obviously does: the slight angle of her eyebrow, the crinkle of her eye, the uptick corner of her lip—here lies intelligence and good humor, the best combo of virtues you can hope for in a person.  Prianto and Maulana’s colors give flesh and life to all characters, even the ones who exist as no more than figments of the mind.

Conclusion: I find myself frustratingly and helplessly caught up in the intrigue, as usual, even though the story has purposely avoided giving up much of anything.  Story of my life.

Grade: B+

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: – I don’t know where this story will end up, so long as it involves Mrs. Peterssen getting her cool, perfectly coiffed self getting rumpled and preferably a little bloody.  Can’t stand those unflappable types.

– Frankie may not be involved in the conspiracy in any way, but his dark humor at the most inappropriate moment sure makes you think he’s not an unlikely candidate for assault.

– Love the quote from Arnold Bennett on the back.  Here’s some sensible, salty advice from that great producer of maxims (and crap fiction): “Beware of undertaking too much at the start.  Be content with quite a little.  Allow for accidents.  Allow for human nature, especially your own.”