Posted in: Comics | Tagged: ales kot, Comics, entertainment, The Surface

My Journey Into The Surface So Far

Published Tue, 29 Sep 2015 17:00:11 -0500

By Shawn Perry

After reading The Surface #3 I truly have got no idea what's going on but I love it.

Please excuse my reference to the most overtly over-played song of the summer but it was implanted in my reality without consent much like the shocking events of the last issue. On that note, buy this book if you haven't yet because spoilers are ahead for all three issues, but know that you are entering and world in which no one is off-limits to the diegetic reality of The Surface. Strap in Bleeders.

[**Spoilers for Issue #1-3 below!!]

The Surface is written by Ales Kot and takes place in a dystopian future where the perils of runaway technology and a tyrannical government has created an world that strips people of their basic freedoms by inserting failsafe controls into infants to manage behavior. One of our three heroes, Mark, is the son of an powerful figure in Government with whom he shares an complex relationship that made him appear to be the chief protagonist at the outset until…well, he still could be, but things took an turn for the unexpected when he appeared to get killed at the end of issue two and revealed the coordinates of "The Surface" to his father, with disastrous results for all parties involved.

The book features jarringly bright and colorful artwork by Langon Foss and Jordie Bellaire which lends a sense of disproportionate whimsy to the proceedings of an rebellious escape to the titular realm of freedom until the proverbial rug was swept out from under my initial reading of the text. Since then their layouts have taken on a mysterious new resonance and the detailed consistency of the pencils seemingly giving credence to the unshakable feeling that I still have the wool over my eyes.

This excellent book also features contributions from Tom Muller and Clayton Cowles who give life to the book and to the words of a character who I first read as an omniscient narrator, but in this issue we learn is named Robert. He helps our heroes escape from the false reality they found themselves trapped in during the first two issues. I'm not sure if I trust that reading yet, but for argument's sake lets go with it.

Throughout the series Robert's words have been white-on-black, ala Neil Gaiman's Sandman which I feel shares more than an spiritual relationship with the text, and in bringing to light his status as an character rather than narrator (or the surface itself talking to us and the characters) brings the series to an shocking halt in the same way that the bloodbath ending of issue two did, except this time Nasia takes things a step further with the final breaking through her diegetic reality (meaning the narrative reality) and asking Kot himself for direction to 'the Surface' in an delightfully disarming profile image that perfectly encapsulates the experience up to this point, and left me ready for more.

In the render farm that is contemporary science fiction, it is a real treat to experience the joy of 'not knowing' to this degree and I give Kot all the credit in the world for creating an experience that has me completely at it's mercy. The fourth issue of the series will be released on October 7^th.

Shawn Perry is a comic book and film enthusiast striving to be here now. He currently rests his head in East Hartford, Connecticut. Tweet him @thesperry and email him about life and your stories at Shawn.Perry88@gmail.com.

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