Comic review: Mister X Razed- Xmas In Somnopolis #1- Great, well done, clever boy, have a biscuit.

Writer: Dean Motter
Artist: Dean Motter
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Released: 25th February 2015

After the first ten pages of this book it was annoying me so much that I could barely muster up the energy to keep on reading it.

Fighting against the urge to chuck the book in the bin and read something less irritating I continued to read on and was pleasantly surprised by a clever plot twit mid-way through the book.

This twist kept me reading until the end, and I have to acknowledge that it was a very well thought out, cleverly written and expertly drawn comic book.

My problem with it is that it’s an exercise in cleverness that doesn’t really say anything.

Well, perhaps the twist might say something? Don’t jump to conclusions, perhaps? Read a story through to the end, and it might be cleverer than you think? It certainly says that, but that’s just about all I could get out of it.

If you want your comic books to engage with the world outside of your bedroom window then this isn’t going to be a book for you. There is nothing in the book that couldn’t have been written in 1985, 1995 or 2005.

The narrative is set in a dystopic future, but it’s a big generic US city future and the characters both look and act like they are in a 1940’s Humphrey Bogart movie. Is that cool? Some people might think so, but to me it just looks old, really, really old.

The plot twist surprised me, but that was just because I assumed that the book was awful, and not because I hadn’t seen the twist done before in a similar detective/crime book.

The script had the usual coincidences that help move it along, and the eponymous Mister X appeared oddly supernatural as he just popped up whenever needed, and then disappeared when his narrative role was completed. That’s a manipulative writing technique, and some people accept it because they just want a good story. I dislike it because it feels contrived and fake.

That’s it. I cannot think of anything else to say about the book other than it’s clever and that it doesn’t resonate with contemporary socio-economic-political concerns. If you want a clever book with a lovely use of the colour red in the artwork then get the book. That’s what’s on offer here: Cool, clever and red. Great, well done, clever boy, have a biscuit.

Rating: 7/10 (Well written book with lovely colouring, but there is no connection to the world that I am living in)