ZED #6
by Michel Gagne
(Gagne International Press)
 The latest issue
of Zed points
up the biggest
assets and detriments
of the series quite
well. There's a
lot more in the
assets column,
which includes
Gagne's trippy
and beautiful art,
a strange tone
that mixes all-ages
and surprisingly
dark material and
a crazy science-fiction
premise that reads
like the kind of
thing Kirby might
have come up with.
In this latest
issue, Zed awakes
from his encounter
with God, comes
to find that he's
been asleep for
10 years, encounters
his uncle (it doesn't
end well), faces
off with his arch-nemesis
(that doesn't go
so well either)
and basically bounces
around like a pinball,
trapped in a world
where evil has
seemingly triumphed
with his unwitting
help. It's a madcap,
wide-ranging plot
that also includes
an intergalactic
band as the last
rebellion against
a cruel tyrant,
and while it could
easily have been
too unfocused,
it is actually
very easy to keep
up and enjoy Gagne's
strange flights
of fancy. Except...
the overall story
isn't as easy to
keep track of.
The roughly annual
publication schedule
means that by the
time the latest
issue has come
out, I've forgotten
what went before,
and a recap of
some sort would
really help the
book out. There's
also a weird cognitive
dissonance between
Gagne's wild-eyed wondrous
tone and the absolutely
bleak darkness
and violence that
has included the
destruction of
Zed's home planet
and the casual
maiming of his
only real friend
in this issue.
Perhaps in the
long view he'll
look more heroic,
but now the poor
guy just looks
long-suffering.
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