Reviewer: Mathan “I Buy “#1″ Issues” Erhardt
Story Title: Pulled
Written by: Jason Hall
Penciled, Inked and Cover by: John Watkiss
Colored by: Jeremy Cox
Lettered by: Ken Lopez
Editor: Will Dennis
Publisher: Vertigo/DC Comics
The issue begins in the imagination of Carter Lennox. Carter works for a large company with plenty of offices. But he’s bored with his job and his life. Thus he writes fiction. Fiction in a “Law & Order” sense; it seems pulled from the headlines. But in a story set in the near future that can mean anything.
We then go to a press conference for Ethicorp. Ethicorp is a corporation that has it’s hands in all for of society, life and culture. Their motto is “We Get The Bad Out.” And they do. Everyone seems content to live in the world that Ethicorp has crafted, except for Deirdre Myers, an intrepid reporter who questions the conglomerate. She’s promptly escorted out of the press conference, for asking pertinent questions.
Meanwhile, Carter walks the streets after work pondering his station in life and society. As he passes Vi, an attractive young woman, he drops a book. They strike up a conversation about his interest in such an archaic form of information/entertainment.
After that encounter Carter bumps into Deirdre as she ambushes the man who kicked her out of the press conference. She questions the truth to the idea about “Triggers”, covert executioners employed by Ethicorp. He dismisses her allegations, and Carter writes them off as conspiracy theory. But then Carter ponders the role of Ethicorp. The shift in society happened after the passing of the second “True Patriot Act.” Pretty scary stuff.
When Carter finally arrives home, he finds that he has no tolerance for his family. He doesn’t want to spend time with his wife or kids. He just wants to collapse in bed. As he passes out, we flash to Vi in her room remembering her past. When she goes to bed she dreams of Carter, and Carter shares the same dream. Carter wakes up disturbed and decides to go for a walk.
He passes the apartment of a man watching porn. The man gets frustrated that Ethicorp has cut out “the good part.” He then decides to rape the girl he has tied up in the closet. But a mysterious figure intervenes and saves her. The attempted rapist tries to escape by running into the street, but he’s caught and executed, in front of Carter. Carter, realizing his life’s in jeopardy by witnessing tries to run away. But he too is shot in the chest.
However Carter wakes up and finds that the book he was caring under his coat stopped the projectile and saved his life. Carter returns home and checks on this family. His wife pretends to sleep when he checks on her.
The next day Carter visits Seth, a gent he plays chess with in the park. He vaguely asks Seth’s advice as to whether he should tell Deirdre what he witnessed. Seth tells him to go for it.
Carter returns home and finds a wife suspicious of his upcoming trip. While on his trip Carter continues to lament his current status. As he looks in the mirror he gets a sinister look in his eye. Then we jump to 3 hours and 26 minutes later. There a bloody handprints in the bathroom and on the sink. Carter lies in bed in his hotel room. He sits up and we see blood splattered all over his suit.
Hall really impressed me with Beware The Creeper. So I picked this issue up. It’s a great first issue. It’s really compelling. It tells you just enough to let you have a degree of stability, yet still not know what’s going on. The characters are engaging and the setting is interesting. You really couldn’t ask for more.
Watkiss is a great artist. His art really does set the tone for the book. It’s a dark and gloomy world that Carter lives in. Society seems very detached, and he manages to capture that. Even the park scene seems “cold.” He also does a great job using body language. He’s got a knack for that.
