Broken Frontier

Comic book publishing company Red 5 has been on the scene only a short time but it has already produced the critical darling and breakout hit title Atomic Robo as well as cult favorite Neozoic. In the fall of 2007, however, they debuted a four issue mini-series that may have flown under the radar. The series was collected into a trade paperback in late 2008 which makes now the perfect time to take another look at…. Abyss.

Eric Hoffman had quite a life: young, rich, and directionless; a comic book geek and an electronics whiz with an emotionally distant, absentee father. Eric’s world changes when his father dies and he inherits everything. Eric’s world really changes when he discovers that his father was more than just morally dodgy in the corporate world – Rafer Hoffman was the supervillain known as Abyss! Oh, and the whole father being dead bit? Turns out not so much. Of course, there is a nefarious plan involved and Eric finds himself thrust into a four-color, costume world that is nothing like what he expected!

Writer Kevin Rubio is probably best known in comic book circles for his outrageously comedic and satiric Star Wars mini-series Tag and Bink are Dead. He brings those same sensibilities to Abyss and the first thing that comes to mind in reading the trade is: is it possible for a comic book to be both a love letter to comic book society and pop culture fandom and a pointed satire of the same? In this case, the answer is "yes" but it is a balance that few are able to do well. In some ways, perhaps, Rubio does his job a little bit too well…

All of the satirical, pop culture references are funny but are already starting to date. Within five years many readers will probably have to rummage through their memories to place the reference and recall why it should be funny… and by that point the joke will be lost. Another problem is the fact that the story references comic book history, famous and seminal stories and comic book culture. Any reader who is not steeped in such will likely not get the jokes or only partially get them. For example, the pointed teasing of the San Diego Comic Con will not resonate with many outside the comic book world despite the fact that in recent years SDCC has been getting national media coverage.

Another area where the trade is, perhaps, not what one would expect is in the fact that it seems a bit choppy. There are a great many writers today who "write for the trade" – crafting four and six issue story arcs on ongoing series’ which are tailor made to be bound together in a hardcover or trade paperback. Many of those writers have also become adept at writing the arcs in such a way that, when they are collected, it is almost impossible to see where one issue ended and another one began. Not so with Abyss. Rubio’s decision to end every issue with an obvious and dramatic cliffhanger pays tribute to the traditions of comics but leaves the trade reading a bit rough as a whole.

Rubio’s art partner for Star Wars: Tag and Bink are Dead, Lucan Marangon, also provides the art for Abyss. Marangon’s cartoony style is a perfect compliment for the sometimes silly and always over the top world of Abyss. Even more, however, Marangon has a way of nailing the pop-culture references to make them instantly recognizable. For example, a villain’s lair that just is a perfect parody of something you would expect to see out of a James Bond film from the 1960s. Marangon also does a nice job on the superheroes and supervillains’ costumes – making them unique for the series and yet so "typical" of the genre that you feel like you really ought to have seen them in a comic book before.

In the end, Abyss is actually a story that might read slightly better in individual issue format rather than trade as it is a tribute, parody and satire of comic books. In some ways its greatest strengths are also its greatest weaknesses. For readers immersed in movies, TV, comic book history, and celebrity gossip of the last couple of years Rubio’s work here will bring a lot of laughs, smiles, and knowing winks. For those who are new to the comic book world, however, this story will likely leave them bewildered and that is the central problem – it plays best to a core fanbase rather than to a wider audience. If you are a member of that core, however, then you will likely get a kick out of Abyss.

Abyss is available from Red 5 Comics priced $9.95