Rafael Albuquerque and Mike Johnson's Ei8ht brings us the story of a time travel mission gone wrong. Stranded and disoriented, chrononaut Joshua has found himself in quite a mess. It may seem simple at face value, but it's a strong enough premise to warrant checking out.
With nonlinear storytelling and a sparse, contrasting color palette, the book carries a highly mysterious tone. Our lead character even struggles to recall his own name. Minor fragments of memory are there, mostly revolving around a laboratory that reminds me of a more futuristic version of Franken's Gears. Nothing seems to be going right at all, tapping right into the reader's curiosity.
Joshua's color-coded wrist device is meant to allow communication with the team that sent him. Unfortunately, it's very much on the fritz. Don't you hate days where Murphy's Law sinks its teeth in and just doesn't let go?
When he finally gets some semblance of a signal, his instructions are garbled and oddly cryptic. This is something straight out a dream, where hardly anything makes sense.
Yeah, that's right. Joshua is told to "follow the dinosaur." I'm not sure if that sounds more like a dance craze or the motto of some freaky cult, but I'm definitely down with it. That goes double when it leads to a skirmish with 1980's post-apocalyptic styled ruffians.
These guys aren't exactly pleased that Joshua has "dropped in." The altercation ultimately leads to answers about his whereabouts, simultaneously setting us up for the next issue. It turns out our protagonist is stuck in a place called "the Meld," and the group he's stumbled upon might not be so bad after all. However, the wreckage of his ship has unfortunately drawn the attention of The Spear: an ominous figure who seems anything but friendly. 3, 2, 1...cliffhanger!
As an illustrator driven comic, the art is definitely at the forefront here. Such a simple color palette could have easily felt tedious, but it really enhances the overall mood. Going further, there's a truly dynamic sense to the layouts. The panels shift between simple and painstakingly detailed, and the linework is incredibly lively. The book remains fascinating even when the lead character is doing little more than yelling into his wrist for several pages. Rafael Albuquerque's artwork is impressive indeed.
The overall storytelling also delivers. The book shows more than it tells, trusting its readers to follow along without hand-holding. Joshua knows about as much as we do, making it easy to become invested in his predicament as it develops. Albuquerque and Johnson are really on point here.
Ultimately, Ei8ht #1 was a solid read. You can definitely count me in for the next issue.
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