Finally for this week, we have Bonds, a three-issue miniseries published through Image by Durwin Talon. 

This is Talon's first series, but he's done cover art for major publishers in the past.  He's also arguably perhaps the most overqualified man presently working indie comics, having taught sequential art at university level, and written such books as Panel Discussions: Design in Sequential Art Storytelling. 

Bonds is not a radical experiment in the form, but as you'd expect, it's clearly the work of somebody who knows what he's doing.  I'm reminded slightly of a less stylised Brian Stelfreeze, but I think that's more the colouring than anything else.  Talon is clearly more concerned with pacing and atmosphere by varying the traditional grid format than he is with striking individual images. 

It's a talky book rather than a flashy one, but it's nicely constructed.  Talon's characters are expressive and lifelike, at times looking almost as though they've been rotoscoped.  The colours may be the crucial thing, as they give the work a real three-dimensional feel, but Talon's sense for body language is impeccable as well.

But what about the plot, I hear you ask?  Ah yes.  The plot.  Well, our narrator is Josh, a young conductor, but the protagonist is his fiancée Faith.  Faith is a talented cellist whose father, a research chemist, discovers that his formerly philanthropic employers have moved into bio-weapon research.  He manages to tip off Faith before getting killed, and Faith is then left with the choice of pursuing revenge or... embracing her destiny as some sort of nebulous chaos-theory-ish balancing force?

Yeah.  I'm not so sure about the plot.  I've certainly read a lot worse than this, but it's not quite up there with the writing.  Faith is a bit ill-defined - she comes across as a projection of Josh's ideal woman (arty, intelligent, lively, you name it) rather than a proper character.  And the spiritual ideas of Faith's balancing role sit uneasily alongside a cartoon corporate villain like Hirano. 

Besides, what is Hirano's plan here?  We're told that he sees himself as simply a good businessman.  Is his bio-weapon research supposed to be illegal?  If it's an illegal product that has to be kept secret at all costs, how does he propose to make any money off it?  If it's a completely legal product, why kill over it?  I can't quite follow how this is supposed to work.

Oh, and for some reason, the whole thing is lettered in italics.  Perhaps it's just a matter of personal taste, but it's something that slightly sets me on edge.

Despite its flaws, though, it's still an okay story, elevated by impressive art.  There's a lot of talent here, even if there are kinks to be worked out.

Rating: B

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