Broken Frontier

Vertigo unleashes its next comic masterpiece that every comic book fan should buy and I’m here to tell you why.

I’m a proud devout slave of the Vertigo imprint, so when I read the first solicitation for Trigger and saw that it’s my favorite genre (noir) under my favorite banner (Vertigo) it instantly became one of my most anticipated titles of 2004. The basic premise, as does most of this first issue, purposely reads like a story we’ve seen or read before. Be it an Aldous Huxley novel, to more recently in films like Equilibrium, Trigger takes place in a not too distant future where an evil corporation called Ethicorp has stripped society from its evil ways and temptations. To ensure this, much like the Clerics from the film Equilibrium, they employ enforcers called Triggers, who take care of any culture violators.

The series begins introducing us to a downtrodden writer by the name of Lennox Carter. He is a good obedient citizen; wife, one boy, one girl, steady job. Yet through strange dreams and a run in with a hard as nails female reporter, he is beginning to sense that all is not what it seems under Ethicorp’s reign.

Now I admit, this sounds like very familiar territory, but I assure you it is anything but. Jason Hall does what is the single most important thing a writer can do with the first issue of a new series. He drafts a closing three pages that have you slamming the comic down, knowing you now have to shell out another $2.95 a month and need that next issue, as an addict needs his next fix.

He is deliberately setting the reader up with an opening that seems familiar. You may read most of this comic complaining that you’ve seen or read a story just like this and then within a few pages you have no idea what the hell happened. There is a brilliant craft in the writing and introduction of characters that you cannot wait to learn more about.

The noir influence is not just clear in the hard-boiled characters, but in the pulp design of this pseudo-utopian future. The team of penciller John Watkiss and the colors of Jeromy Cox creates designs that are both a throwback, yet at the same time unique with a panel structure and tone that is reminiscent of the equally brilliant comic Sleeper.

Trigger is without a doubt a perfect 10 right out of the box. This is a creative team instantly on the verge of greatness and this first issue is the beginning of something special. I cannot stress enough that you should get on board from the beginning, do not wait for the trade. Support this comic in its monthly format. We need more comics this good.

-Glen Siegal