DC Comics
Faker #1
By Zak Edwards
July 8, 2007 - 16:12

DC Comics
Writer(s): Mike Carey
Penciller(s): Jock
Cover Artist(s): Jock





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Ever read a comic book and have no idea what just happened?  This is what I got from the first issue of Faker.  I read it once and enjoyed the characters, the drugs, the alcohol, and the sadistic thought process of the main character, but I don’t know what just happened or where this is going.  I have a feeling that’s right where they want me, considering the characters don’t know themselves.  Mike Carey and Jock present us with a window into the lives of four college students, one of which doesn’t seem to exist anymore.  A strange concept that reeks of the Sixth Sense, but I’m hoping this mini-series evolves into something more.  Vertigo is famous for its incredible catalog of stories so I’m hoping this follows in that tradition.

Writing wise, I’m think I’m enjoying it.  The main character, Jessie, is not someone I would want to know.  Actually, I don’t think I’d want to hang out with any of them, but I’m enjoying the time I spent with them in this issue.  They are all college students out to party and do all those things you see in those movies, up to and including experimenting with drugs and seducing a teacher.  Yet while I enjoyed Jessie’s interactions with all of the other characters, I still have no idea what is going on.  We start with a confession with a teacher, move to a party, to a ‘drowning in your own vomit’ moment, to a scene that gives you as little information as possible while still providing enough to make you want to stay.  Turns out a character seems to have lost their identity and many people who should know the character have no recollection of them.  The idea is served well in a college atmosphere as many people are trying to discover themselves during those years.  A reversal of this is intriguing.

The art by Jock is interesting, which I guess works for this series.  Almost every page is emphasizing a different colour palette, but not in a very ‘artsy’ way.  I feels more like the colourist got up and said, “I’m feeling very yellow today and so this page will be very, very yellow!”  It’s weird, and not in a Dave McKean or Sam Kieth way.  I don’t know how much freedom colourists get, so it’s hard to say who’s to blame for the rainbow of colouring, but I hope it doesn’t continue.  The pencils are okay, nothing that makes me want to pick up something else drawn by Jock, but it doesn’t bother me in any way either.

7.5/10    Not sure what’s going on, but okay with it.

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Faker #4
Faker #3
Faker #2
Faker #1