Pull List Review: Where is Jake Ellis? #3

Had to wait for a while for this issue, but this is one series where the delays never bug me. It's all because of Tonci Zonjic, whose art is regularly worth the wait. And sometimes being forced to wait makes it all the more satisfying. What I appreciate about his work on this book is that, even though he clearly has hit a groove, there's no stagnation or self-replication. He continues to try new things and change up his strategies, all with great results. So where we used to see a lot of pages done mostly in a single color, here Zonjic will often break those up with a panel or two in the middle done in entirely different hues. Or he'll fill a scene with many colors, but all under a sort of muted lighting that changes them and gives the page as a whole a more uniform look. These are only slight departures from what he did on the first series, Who is Jake Ellis?, but they enrich Where and give it its own distinct feel without disconnecting from its predecessor.
     As for the characters, Zonjic is clearly at home in this world and with this cast. Even new people like Dawid and Mollie are consistent and expressive and detailed on every page. And Jon and Jake are both locks, immediately recognizable and capable of very nuanced emotional performances in Zonjic's hands. He's done a ton of work with them both, and it shows.
     Sadly, Nathan Edmonson's script isn't growing in the same direction as Zonjic's art. The story seems to be stalling a little, and now that the curtain has been drawn back part way, all anyone can talk about is pulling it down completely. In Who, Jon and Jake had a very clear goal: to find The Facility and get inside. They knew what they wanted, from each other and themselves, and became a well-oiled machine in the pursuit of those goals. But now our heroes have no idea what they want, except that they don't want to get caught and/or killed. They are passive forces, waiting for their enemies' next move with no means of stopping it, slowly it down, or striking back. And they're at odds with one another in a new, jarring way. Where once there was slight friction, Jake now displays some open hostility. He has no emotional investment in Jon, apparently, and becomes an aggressive dick about it when asked. It's grating, and does nothing to help what is already a lack of progress on the part of these characters.
     Also, Jake's level on information has shifted. Now that he is sometimes aware of the waking world around him, he's able to info dump a bit on Jon about who they're fighting, which basically just gives us a scene or two of being told things we've already been shown. So once again we have an example of wheel-spinning where there should be advancement.
     It's not that I am not interested in the things Jake says. And any answers he provides come with several new questions, so the mysteries of this series continue to grow. But there was a marked deflation of energy in this issue, starting with Mollie's lackluster walk-off and carrying through to the end when Jon quietly, dully surrenders himself to the bad guys. This is one of the best-looking books around, and it has the potential to be one of the most unique and fascinating stories in comics today, too. But Edmonson seems to have lost some of his mojo now that we know where Jake's body is. Somehow that single detail changed too much about the nature of our heroes' dynamic and the larger story around them for Edmonson to tell as strong or exciting a story as he did before.
6.5/10

Pull List Review: Where is Jake Ellis? #1

The band is back together!

My love for Who is Jake Ellis? is no secret, so to say that I was hotly anticipating this follow-up series would be one hell of an understatement. And though it didn't rock me to my very core as I might have wanted, Where is Jake Ellis? #1 was a more than satisfying return to the world and characters I so adore.
     In terms of story, this really was just about bringing Jake and Jon, heroes of the previous series, back together. Jon has been in hiding since Who ended, but some agency or other seems to have finally found him, and so he is forced to run for his life through Bangkok, ending up at the US embassy only to discover he's no safer there than he was before. Meanwhile, Jake has been trapped in a military hospital, not allowed to leave or even get a phone call until he tells his government what he can remember from his time away. Which, he claims, is nothing. Ultimately Jake, too, gets to do a bit of fleeing, escaping his captors and making it home to his wife. Sadly, she has moved on with another man, and even has a child now, so, like Jon, Jake is no better off where he ends up than he was where he began. These parallels between Jon and Jake's experiences---the running, the futility of said running, the teams of armed men on their heels, etc.---remind us of how much these two men have shared, while at the same time displaying their key differences. Jon is motivated by survival, but Jake actually wants to get somewhere, get back to a normal life, get back to himself. Neither succeeds on his own, though, and so by the end Jake takes leave of his own body and becomes once again the helpful voice in Jon's head.
     And there was much rejoicing.
     Nathan Edmonson's script is direct and brisk, giving the action sequences plenty of room to breathe while the dialogue stays fairly light. It all works quite effectively, and considering that anyone who'd read the previous series could more or less predict where the first issue of this sequel would end up (i.e. that Jake would be Jon's guide once again), the choice to waste no time in arriving there was an excellent one. From here, exactly what the world has in store for our two-heroes-in-one-body is anyone's guess, but mostly I'm just glad they're back in action.
     Meanwhile, the best part of Where is Jake Ellis? #1 isn't anything specific that happens in the story. Instead it is, as it was all throughout Who, Tonci Zonjic's masterful artwork. Although there isn't so much of the pages-washed-in-one-color technique he used so skillfully before, Zonjic's coloring is no less brilliant here. From the brash blues of the hospital to the murky green-browns of the water, everything is given a perfectly appropriate hue to set the mood for each scene. But colors aside, it is Zonjic's deft grasp on action scenes that really makes this book what it is. He can cram a page full of fights in two different locations, each with multiple combatants, bystanders, and more, yet never once confuse the reader with clutter or a lack of clarity. And he just nails the climatic moments, like Jon jumping off a roof while getting shot through the arm, or diving off a boat just in time to avoid getting shot again. Zonjic keeps the energy frenetic and the violence crisp, the perfect feeling for a spy/thriller such as this.
     But don't think he's any less talented in the calmer moments. Quite the opposite. In fact, while the action scenes may be the most impressive, it is during those times when Jake is quietly, furiously brooding that Where is Jake Ellis? #1 has the most emotional weight. He is a broken man, desperate to return to a life he knew long ago, and though his words are few, his misery is heavy and enormous and obvious through Zonjic's drawing. And when, seeing his wife with her new family, Jake finally gives up and gives in, sending his consciousness back to Jon's mind for safekeeping, Zonjic draws the shit out of that, too. It is the moment we've all been waiting for, but still a somber one.
     Some things have changed and some have reverted, and now the ball is truly rolling once again. Where is Jake Ellis? #1 is a damn fine debut to a promising sequel. It was well worth the wait, and it makes waiting for the second issue that much more difficult.
8.0/10