Writer: T-Bone
Artists: Ron Randall (p), James Taylor (i)
Publisher: A1 Oregon Publishing
Plot:
The book opens at the pool party that is being held by Todd, Dakota's new boyfriend, where we find Zack is using his empathic power to read the inner emotions of a person to get a sense of whether Todd's feelings for Dakota are genuine, or is he simply stringing her along until she gives him what he wants. After Zack displays his heroic nature when he leaps to the rescue of a party goer who looks to be in distress after he was pulled out of the pool, we see that Todd's father isn't exactly setting a shining example for his son to follow as the man is openly flirting with another woman while his wife is out of town. We then see that Todd has obviously picked up on the idea that it's okay to fool around with other people when one is in a relationship, as Tiger finds herself being subjected to Todd's unwanted affections, and this would seem to prove that Todd is simply a creep who only cares about satisfying his own needs, while showing little to no regard for the feelings of Dakota. However, after Tiger & the others confront Dakota and let her know Todd's a heel, we see Zack arrives with his report, and we learn that Todd is not half the player he pretends to be, and that his lecherous behavior is largely being done in a bid to impress his father. We then see the girls let Todd's father know what his son is doing, and the man decides to have a conversation with his son.
Comments:
I realize that it's supposed to be a happy ending in that Todd the seeming creep of a boyfriend is revealed to be a poser who is simply acting like a two-timing jerk because he wants to please his father, but given an earlier scene in this issue had the father openly flirting with another woman while his wife was out of town, I'm not sure how much comfort one is supposed to be able to draw from the idea that Todd is about to enter into a conversation with his dad concerning his two-timing ways. I mean this is a bit like a fire prevention course being delivered by an arsonist, in that while the dad probably realizes that his behavior is wrong, I seriously doubt he has any intention of stopping the behavior because his son looks to be following in his footsteps. I mean this is a man who has his cheating behavior on full display at a party being held for his son's friends, and the story calls upon us to accept that the advice given by this man to his son is going to repair the problem. The story also offers up the suggestion that Todd isn't responsible for his own actions, as he's merely aping the behavior he's seen from his dad, and while this idea might hold water if Todd was younger, the simple fact of the matter is that he's old enough to realize his behavior & that of his father is wrong, and as such his actions are far more reflective of his inner personality, rather than simply conditioning.
Now I will credit this issue for finally giving its protagonist a role to play in the action, as his ability to sense the emotions of the people whose identity he's borrowed does allow him to sense that Todd isn't nearly as bad as his behavior seems to suggest. On the other hand Todd did make a move on one of his girlfriend's best friends, and in a scene that I found to be downright creepy we also had him bragging of his latest sexual conquest to his dad, which suggests to me that even if he is largely a poser, he's well on his way to becoming the jerk that the girls believed him to be. Now I like that this issue adopted such a frank approach to the subject, and while I found the resolution to be a bit weak, this issue does mark the first time that I feel that material made use of it's central concept, as Zack is not only given a role to play in the story, but his discovery actively changes the behavior of the others. The story also does some strong work simply detailing the reactions of the teens themselves, as one has to love the scene where the teens instantly assumed the drowned Kevin is faking. The "find the car keys at the bottom of the pool" game is exactly the type of inconsequential bit of fun that one can expect from teens, and one has to love how only the males at the party responded to the competitive aspect of this game.
Ron Randall turns in another fine looking issue, as he adds a sense of polish to this book that raises it far above what expects to find from a book not being published by one the bigger companies. His figure work is sharp, and nicely defined, with his use of body language to convey a character's reactions to plot events being particularly impressive (e.g. the reaction shot of the gathered teens as Kevin gets up after it appeared that he was drowning). The facial work is also quite strong, from the various reactions as the boys emerge from the pool without the keys, to the highly volatile response when Tiger finds herself being subjected to Todd's unwanted affections. The art is also quite strong when it comes to simply telling the story, as the key moments in this issue are captured quite nicely, from the anger that Tiger expresses as she lashes out at Todd, to the panel where Dakota readjusts the placement of Todd's wandering hand, which nicely foreshadows the idea that she's not ready to take their relationship to the level of intimacy he's looking for. The little moments are also quite strong, as one can sense the hesitation of Tiger as she is called upon to provide mouth to mouth resuscitation on the drowned Kevin, or her sense of concern when she spots Dakota heading off to be alone with Todd after she's learns what a jerk he really is.
Final Word:
I have a bit of a problem with the resolution that this book has offered up as it is entirely dependent on one accepting the idea that Todd's behavior was entirely the result of his trying to please his father, and the solution that is offered up is that upon being told that his son is mimicking his behavior the father suddenly becomes the ideal figure to tell his son that his behavior is unacceptable. Now given the father was shown to be a man who had decided that a party being held by his son is the ideal environment to display his willingness to accept the attentions of an overly affectionate neighbor, I had trouble accepting this ending as the ideal solution. Still, I did enjoy the back & forth interaction among the teens, and the book does earn points for it's genuine feeling emotional scene when Dakota is told her boyfriend is a class a jerk. It's also nice to see Zack's power was used to change the outlook of the story, even if I don't agree with the final solution that was arrived at.
What did you think of this book?
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