Written by: Rafael Albuquerque and Mike Johnson
Art by: Rafael Albuquerque
Publisher: Dark Horse
Ei8ht is a new five-issue miniseries from one of the co-creators of American Vampire, Rafael Albuquerque. Albuquerque takes on the art duties here but he’s also credited with the story as well, though Johnson writes the script. It should also be noted that Albuquerque does the colors for the book as well, because it seems colors will play a large part in deciphering exactly when the story takes place (past=green, future=blue, etc.) on any given page. This is a neat tool to use, though I felt that the colors felt a little flat to me. This might be entirely intentional in a noirish type of way (think Cooke’s Parker adaptations from IDW) but I wish the pages had been a bit more vibrant. If we’re already traveling back and forth in time, then shouldn’t the colors themselves reflect some of that insanity?
Ei8ht is about time travel, of a sort, but this first issue doesn’t tell us much about the science or those behind it. Joshua is our protagonist who is sent back in time by someone to kill a nazi. Or maybe just to meet him. Or help him. We’re not sure yet. Joshua is just meant to memorize the guy’s face. Joshua also wants to spend one more night with a girl before he leaves for the past, but we’re not told whether this girl is his wife, girlfriend, daughter, or mother. The mysterious scientists are supposed to help Joshua with something concerning this woman, though again, we don’t really know what the bargain is or what it entails.
I don’t mind mystery, at all, but my concern with this opening issue of Ei8ht is that it’s a miniseries and this first issue offers nothing but questions. The Meld seems like a great concept of a place out of time basically, but the only thing we really know about it is that dinosaurs exist here, some type of tribal community is the basis of society, and Joshua is stuck here for the foreseeable future. Perhaps this issue would’ve worked better as a double-sized introduction to the world, but as it stands we’ve got two periods of time, quick scenes taking place both before and after Joshua’s jump in time, and a few interesting characters with little to no backstory yet.
Ei8ht is an intriguing book about time travel and the spaces between time, but with only four issues to go and with this first issue having to do the work of hooking readers for the long haul, I don’t think it was fully successful. Perhaps once we know more about Joshua and his “employers,” then we’ll be more invested in the story, but for now all we have is an amnesiac protagonist who is stuck in The Meld. I will certainly read the second issue to see where this story is going, so perhaps the first issue was successful to a degree, but I think my continued reading is also due to my inherent trust in Dark Horse and my love of Albuquerque’s art as much as anything else. If you’re into sci-fi comics and you like Albuquerque’s art from American Vampire, then you’ll probably find a lot to enjoy in this first issue. I can only hope that more is revealed in the second issue because 20% of the story has already been told and while an ongoing might have the luxury to tease out many mysteries in a first issue, a miniseries cannot afford 22 pages of all questions and very little payoff.
