Paradigm #2-4
By Matthew Cashel and Jeremy Haun
Published by Image Comics
As someone who greatly enjoys both Gary Spencer Millidge's Strangehaven and the black and white crime comics of Brian Michael Bendis, I really wanted to like Image's Paradigm when it came out -- the book bore strong thematic similarities to both of those inspirations.
But as I said in my review, "There's a definite risk of not rising above the Bendis/Strangehaven melange...and that needs to be nipped in the bud right away." Just having tried to read the next three issues of the series in a single sitting, I can say pretty definitively that that not only hasn't happened, but the book's creators seem to have no intention of trying to make the book more readable -- it's fascinating in spots, but it's mostly a mess.
There's an interesting idea in here somewhere, about reality and perception and relationships -- but gigantic blocks of text invite you to skip over probably-important information (I say probably because -- yup -- I skipped over most of it), the black and white artwork is often -- very often -- confusing, and the overall result is a book that is this close to being professional, but can't quite get there.
By the fourth (and most recent) issue, the creators condescend to provide a guide to who's who in the title, and it's worth noting that this was where I first even realized that I had had no clue what most of the names of the characters were. Additionally, one character, I learned, was actually two seperate ones. Well, then.
I'd love to love Paradigm, because it's got an almost unique style and point of view, and it's trying things few comics ever attempt. But it asks too much of readers and provides few clues visually or in the plot to inspire me to continue trying to decipher its muddled meanings.
Considering the self-congratulatory, "We've already made it," tone of the comic's letters pages (which are filled with annoying typos -- the type of tribute to Bendis we don't need), I doubt the book's creators will be much motivated to make the book more comprehensible. Too bad, it could have been one of the good ones. Grade: 2.5/5