Jan-Ken-Pon – Groom Lake #1 review

_{*this is an early review of Groom Lake#1 coming out this month. I would never have to say this if I was reviewing a novel early, but I know how comic fans can be , so this is just a note relaying that these are my thoughts on the issue. I don’t do previews at Jan-ken-pon – that would be what I’d call an unpaid ad! In short, there be spoilers here. . .}

    
Groom Lake is a very real place. The occurrences there, or underneath it, are very real as well. What exactly that is remains shrouded in mystery and speculation that remains the subject of contemporary myth. It is this pseudo-history that Chris Ryall, and the surreality bending Templesmith want to offer a playful, satirical take on. The abduction of his father grants Karl a tour of Groom Lake, where he is able to see his father moment before he passes on. We are left to suppose (through the father’s words) there is some significance to Karl (DNA, bloodlines etc) for the government to allow to showcase such sentiment. Through this we are the given the tour of a what amounts to an alien zoo/detention/research installation and see the introduction of something resembling a team.

It’s a solid issue that will probably rate as a must read for Templesmith fans, and does nothing to hamper his reputation as one of the most unique and evocative artists in the field. This is, however, a satire, and those always make the me feel uneasy. It is not due to inappropriateness or misuse by Ryall, but rather simple, personal, bottom-of-the-line desire to read. I get that Karl is unsophisticated even when he’s not brought to a U.S. military installation with perhaps the most mystique associated with it. It’s not a question of mischaracterization, it’s just at some point that the juxtaposition of a hick against a SF backdrop is either going to appeal to you, or be a natural turn off– it‘s too easy. You add the perfunctory business-first Agent Pope, and Archibald, the aptly named, pop-educated alien, and you have what looks to be at least three members of a team. There are solid callbacks to the Day The Earth Stood Still, E.T., perhaps an IT-O Interrogator Droid, and more; but amidst alien abductions, witnessing the combustion of your father, and being attacked by a giant golden age robot, I found myself too relieved to finally get to a point with the issue’s last line.

The first issue is your typical table setter. It does that in spades, I’m just not sure if the appetizer sells the main course. At this point it’s an effective satirical melange of what has come before, but for myself I’m looking for that trippy SF stuff; a little personal prescience that traps me with excitement and worry about what is to come. Also, you witness Templesmith changing mood and tone visually, but never did the narrative escape this single-note quality, and for me it was almost in conflict through out the issue. This can at times create tension or eeriness (in a story like this), but never in this issue do I sense emotional range or diversity excluding in the very beginning. The issue wants to instill the idea that behind any door could lurk anything imaginable, not even talking about the unimaginable that just make come through a wall. I think I just felt a little too prepared, in an issue where even the reemergence of a dog from a human body seemed telegraphed.

I think being an SF (novel) head here actually hinders me, where it wouldn’t fans who just love to see Templesmith work on a potentially unlimited palette alongside a couple of laughs. In the end it sounds much more exciting in synopsis and recap than I can claim that the experience really offered me. It bullet points awfully well, but it still feels like a miss.

The covers are dope as hell though.

    
- Jay Tomio

_{Jan-ken-pon is the time traveling, force-walking, multiverse crossing column of Jay Tomio, owner of 1/3 of everything you see currently on screen, and the editor of Heliotrope. Some call him the Bodhisattva.}