Comic - Raygun #4
Writer: Gregory Schoen
Pencils & Cover: Alonso Molina
Inks & Lettering: Paulo Rivas
When we left young Matthew, the boy who stole a Death Ray gun which was invented back in the day by Nikola Tesla, at the end of Issue #3 he was just about to be put under arrest for “theft and being in possession of a weapon of mass destruction” by armed government agents of the SDI (Strategic Defence Initiative) who found him at his father’s house. However all was not quite as it seemed.
It’s now 3 months later and the SDI have been running experiments on Matthew, who remains captive with them on their base in the Nevada desert, as they try to get to grips with the full functionality and power of the Raygun. Unfortunately they’re not getting very far with replicating the device as it only responds to a certain bio-electrical frequency – one that appears to be unique to the boy. Even more unfortunately for Matthew, the SDI has “persuaded” his mother to sign over legal custody of Matthew to them, so he’s in for an even tougher time. Meanwhile Matthew’s father enlists some high-powered help in an attempt to get his son back, little knowing the boy has plans of his own.
Another solid issue which has taken the story to a whole new level, not just by revealing so much more about the power of the Raygun, but also raising a lot of ethical questions and moral dilemmas for the reader to think about as a result. For example, was it ok for the SDI to request custody of Matthew from his mother? Even when he may be better off without her? And is it OK for the government to take what is essentially a deadly weapon off the streets and investigate the functionality of the Raygun in order to understand and harness the power or should they have done a Raiders of the Lost Ark with it and taken it away to a nameless box in a warehouse? The power is there, it exists, it can’t be “uninvented”, so should it be used, for either good or evil, or buried and ignored in the hope it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands? Aside from all these deep philosophical arguments though there’s still plenty of action and explosions and the pace hasn’t dropped off at all. If anything it’s even more frantic since as well as in the words and action, you can feel a real tension and speed in the lines of the fantastic artwork of Molina and Rivas. I’m also amazed at how much implied colour they can get into a black and white drawing.
Here are a few preview pages to show you what I mean.
Images - Raygun
Post a Comment