Tony stands around a
bit, looking moody.
The first issue of the
Torchwood comic-book was very…blam! Very hit-the-ground-running, and very
hit-it-till-it-doesn’t-get-up. It also very definitely took Torchwood on from
the show that ‘most’ people will know – Jack, Gwen, Ianto and the rest of the
Cardiff crew – forward beyond John and Carole Barrowman’s novel, The Exodus
Code, and expected readers to either know the events and personnel of that
story, or to get up to speed quickly in the middle of an action sequence
involving jetski-ninjas.
Yes, jetski-ninjas – why
not?
In essence, the
comic-book, like the novel, took on-screen Torchwood into a world without
budgetary constraints, and got Bondy, with a bit of some Tom Cruise-like
futuristic sci-fi to boot. No apologies, no excuses – just get on board or
don’t.
The second issue very much
continues that vibe – the first whole fistful of pages are one long action
sequence, and after that, there’s a straightforward scene-split, half the
action revolving around Jack, Gwen, the crew of the Ice Maiden and their new
accidental stowaway, and the other half focused on Torchwood House in the wake
of a murder by a TV-familiar Torchwood character. There are searches for
scientific notes, new, odd projects uncovered, and a call-back right to the
very origins of Torchwood (appropriately enough, during its tenth anniversary
period).
But here’s the thing – you
end issue #2 not feeling like you’re very much further on than you were at the
end of issue #1. And there’s something that aches a little in disappointment at
that. The Torchwood House storyline is actually by far the more interesting of
the two in this issue, though even this feels oddly paced and padded to make it
fit the issue and end on a cliff-hanging note – there are, to be fair, only so
many scenes of a dog sniffing round a flower-bed you can add into a sequence
before it stops feeling like an appropriately sad grief and purpose sequence
and starts turning into stock footage. Meanwhile, on the Ice Maiden, after the
initial burst of action sequence, there’s a little inconsequential chat, then
Jack getting particularly Bondy again, leading to quite a bit of standing
about, and a reunion between Jack and Gwen that causes a couple of characters
to reach for the sick bags – and importantly, we the reader feel the same,
especially as Gwen’s just left Rhys on a windswept Welsh beach beside the ruins
of their exploded caravan to go gallivanting on a world-saving adventure.
As we say, there is story
development on board the Ice Maiden, there really is – but whereas in the first
issue, the action and the story development went hand in hand, here there’s a
sensation of ‘hurry up and wait’ – the action sequence is all action, then the
story advancement comes more or less independent of that, through some talking
that has a typically Torchwood monosyllabic quality. On the one hand, that gives
it an authentic feel, albeit that feeling is authentically Torchwood up-itself,
the members of the alien-fighting elite seeming to believe more than one word
at a time is an unnecessary expense for people as cool and important as they
are. But on the other hand, this standing about, monosyllabilising at one
another seems oddly devoid of energy after all the toing and froing and James
Bondery of the action sequence. In other words, the tone is unbalanced, leading
to a feeling of deflation that makes the ramp-up to the issue’s cliff-hanger
feel rather more forced than it should.
Now that said, it does look
very pretty and effective – the action sequences have a Seventies, ITC quality
about them, with just a dash of 21st century GCI, meaning they
wouldn’t be out of place in The New Avengers, Danger Man, or The Saint, if any
of those shows got a modern remake. Antonio Fuso and Pasquale Qualano on
artwork do an excellent job of giving this version of Torchwood its own unique
visual aesthetic, a combination of later on-screen versions (particularly
Miracle Day – yes, I know, but still…) and something entirely beyond the
confines of the screen, something of a size and complexity to match the
Barrowmans’ imaginations. And if anything, Marco Lesko on colourwork deserves
even more credit this time round, bringing a vibrant life to some sequences
that need it, while still allowing the gathering of shadows to represent and
enhance the mood of grief and purpose in the Torchwood House scenes. As in
issue #1, there’s a solidity to the world Fuso, Qualano and Lesko conjure, at
least in the Torchwood House storyline which underlines its indefatigable
presence on the map, whereas in the action sequences, there’s a genuine sense
of motion, speed, and urgency.
All of which does
something to mitigate the storytelling imbalance in this issue – but whether it
quite does enough will probably depend on your previous familiarity with the
crew of the Ice Maiden. For relatively casual Torchwooders, who take only the four
on-screen series as being ‘real’ or ‘canon,’ this is likely to be a sticking
point in this issue, the gulf of understanding between our appreciation of the TV
Torchwood characters – Gwen, Jack, Rhys…at least one other – and the Exodus
Code Torchwood characters proving difficult to bridge as we go along while
there’s action to deliver, and broody, cheekbone-heavy monosyllabic speech to
engage in. It’s probably one thing too many to ask of the casual, or even
relatively geeky reader. Trying to deliver an equality of Torchwood pedigree to
characters who went through four series and characters who appeared in one
novel doesn’t work here as well as it practically promised to do in issue #1.
But for those who live, breathe, eat and sleep Torchwood, and are completely up
to speed with the crew of the Ice Maiden, what we’ve got here is…still
unbalanced in terms of the ‘hurry up and wait’ element, but several
adventure-hooks to take us forward – seriously, jetski-ninjas, what the hell is
that about? Why has someone committed a murder at Torchwood House? What was the
previous master of the house investigating, and what did it have to do with
weird astrological constellations and something happening in a galaxy too close
for comfort? And what on earth is going on with the world’s GPS data?
See? Told you there was
plot advancement. All that and more is in this issue, but you’ll still likely
feel that lull after the adrenaline-rush of the first action sequence.
All in all, Torchwood #2
fails to live up to the punch and the promise of issue #1, and might well leave
the more casual Torchwooder behind. Hardcore Jack-junkies though? Strap in and
hold on to whatever comes to hand – despite the odd pacing, there’s plenty here
to whet your appetite for He of The Insanely Good Coat.
.JPG)
