Writer: Keith Giffen
Artist: Kody Chamberlain
Publisher: Boom! Studios
When it rains, it pours.
Mitch is having perfectly putrid day. On the first day of the rest of his life, or the last day of his former life, or neither or perhaps both, he finds himself the victim of synchronous offense. Ending up in a hospital after an ostensible mugging, putting up with a presumptuous metro cab driver, and in the middle of going through the motions of the social protocol charade that is the act of ending courtship, and with a woman who would not even share her umbrella in this, the most tempestuous of days.
In a day of such torrent activity, one would not deny Mitch the inclination to label his day a bad one, yet not preposterous or unbelievably so, as Giffen offers a day attached with familiar and ultimately relatable circumstance, and understated delivery that gains a reader's sense of credibility because of it. Mitch can be you or me, not because he is drawn like a human, but his humanity is drawn. Indeed the title of being a member of the corporeal living dead implicitly suggests one to have once been alive or act in a manner at least resembling as such, and Mitch's activities and eccentricities detail the absurdities of life, not just limiting the focus on the obvious fantastic nature of zombies, not displaying so much a fall, but the beginnings of a true transition that actually succeeds in minimizing the zombie element in the face of life. When his thoughts aren't consumed with issues of trust displayed by his skepticism of hospitals and relationships we start to see the beginnings of a transformation stemming from a chain of events that takes the form of a game of tag. Mitch is it.
Written by the aforementioned Keith Giffen whom many fans will recognize recently being attached to DC's latest mega story 52, or Marvel's recent cosmic crossover Annihilation, the first issue of this 3-part miniseries is a contrast due to its singular inward gaze. The pacing could be called methodical, but in a manner that maximizes tension and dramatic development that is one half of a creative synergy that gives Tag an assured feel. Kody Chamberlain's pencils don't seek to unhinge readers with splash pages of cadaverous visions and gore; instead he seeks to unnerve us within the confines of our own neighborhoods, a familiar street corner gains mysteries when in shadows and on a stormy night, where just like benevolence, horror doesn't so much exist – it simply occurs.
The choice of game is intriguing in itself. It's a universally known quantity, and in Japan (called Onigokko) one who is "it" is referred to as oni - which translated can be interpreted as a demon - who remains so cursed until he tags another which is essentially the premise we are led to assume in the first issue. I say "cursed," as if any of us remember our own childhood experiences in the game beyond the laughter and the innocent dalliance falsely exuded by laughter and smiles was a game that created in us a single-minded purpose when "it" – to tag someone else. Being "it" was beyond a playful misfortune, as I'm sure the fat kid in your group of friends who tried to avoid playing at all costs would attest. You were no longer free; you were the subject of jeers, confronted directly by personal inadequacy. It is only a "game" to those NOT it, it becomes a temporary obsession to who is. It will be of keen interest to see what direction Giffen chooses to take the series and Mitch regarding the psychological aspect, but the first issue shows glimpses of an probing work. Mitch gets tangled in a game, but seemingly treats his life and relationship in similar fashion, and immediately takes to his girl friend's invocation of the quote, "once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," one of two places where wisdom is sought, the first obviously being a quote from The Signs of Four by sleuth extraordinaire Sherlock Holmes, and the other, of course, a blog on the internet.
Tag #1 is a promising example of what I consider optimal horror, where what disturbs comes from within even if what is visible is rot and decay, and is as much an examination of the game of life as it is an undead game of tag, and ominously offers that even death doesn't allow for reprieve from the incessant nagging of those around us. A solid beginning.
What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!