At the moment, the releases of “Zero” are my most anticipated of the series which I’m reading. I’m forced to sit back and reflect after I finish each issue.
WRITTEN BY: Ales Kot
ART BY: Tonci Zonjic
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: July 23, 2014
Reviewed by Nick Brehmer
Issue #10 is no different. Michael Gaydos’ artwork creates this sort of landscape of nostalgia with rotoscoping-styled visuals as if they’ve been drawn over our protagonist Edward’s life over and over again.
Apart from a few frames, there’s very little text in this issue. The double-page spread of the Icelandic road might as well be wearing boxing gloves.
The story is contextualized in this issue yet again through the confrontation between an aged Edward and the gun-wielding little boy on a coast of England. It’s in this present scene of 2038 that we learn about the event labeled “the switch.” It’s unsurprisingly veiled in mystery, but whatever it is, it’s not good.
Infectious and ominous. As Edward brings the boy back in his mind to over ten years prior, we the readers see that he has seemingly abandoned his life of espionage for the isolation, both personal and natural, of Iceland. He’s haunted, but routine keeps him steady. It’s during a walk along the snowy streets that Edward encounters an elderly gentleman and a woman staging a public play when the profundities of this issue drops.
Memory is seemingly paramount to Ales Kot’s writing and its power is highlighted here during this interaction between Edward and the female director. In a near Shakespearian fashion, memory is established as creating in individuals an opportunity for performance. A chance to pretend. To create an alternative. To fool not only ourselves, but also those around us. Edward is no different.
I don’t have much more to say about this issue. I don’t really feel equipped to. Issue #10 of “Zero” left me rather dumbfounded.