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Do you love sci-fi mixed with conspiracies? Clone is the one for you! Click the jump to read.
Clone #1
Written by David Schulner
Art by Juan Jose Ryp
Published by Skybound/Image Comics
Can’t get enough of Robert Kirkman’s suspenseful The Walking Dead? Look no more because here comes Clone. This is not written by Kirkman, but as Editor-in-Chief of Image Comics, he fully supports this new comic book by television writer, David Schulner. This is Schulner’s first written comic book and he does not disappoint. Clone is a sci-fi genre comic book mixed with conspiracy and mystery, and if you have a writer who specializes in all those fields, you get some amazing comic book story telling. Couple Shulner’s storytelling with an artist like Juan Jose Ryp (Batman: Arkham Unhinged , Punisher MAX) and the comic book takes on a life of its own.
Synopsis: Dr. Luke Taylor has everything in order: his life, his career, his wife and soon to be family. What he never anticipated is to be part of conspiracy.
Good: As soon as you start reading this first issue, you enter a suspenseful chase. There is very little dialogue with minor voice-over narrations. This is great because as a reader, you don’t want to be told everything that’s happening. You would at least like to fill in the gaps especially if you’re into mystery books. David Schulner does exactly this in the first issue. He gives you little details about who is who and what is going in order to create suspense and excitement for the readers. This is much appreciated!
What is very interesting is that each clone has their own name and those names have meanings that categorize what kind of character they are in the story. Luke, who is introduced to as the protagonist in this issue, seems very organized. He has his life in order such at home with a wife, and a baby on the way; Luke has achieved the dream life for himself. When you do some quick research of the name Luke, you find out that the first Luke or Saint Luke was a doctor who travelled with Saint Paul in the New Testament. This sounds just like our Dr. Luke Taylor in Clone! Schulner may not have done this intentionally, but it is quite fascinating to to think that maybe we can figure out the personalities of each clone and their way of thinking, just by researching their name alone.
Juan Jose Ryp’s artwork has always been stylistically gritty. His anatomy isn’t perfect, but his illustrations suit the story. It’s not for everyone, but I feel his his work really shines in this book. Ryp is able to illustrate suspenseful panels that are easy to follow. There are so many panels packed into each page, and his pacing helps in setting up the story line for Clone. You really need an artist who is able to tell the story without any dialogue or voice-over narrations, and Ryp’s work is capable of this; It is detailed but not overly drawn out, literally.
Bad: It is too early in the game for this comic book to be critiqued as everything is being set up for something huge in the long run.
Clone is one of those books that can be adapted into a TV series but for now it’s a comic book right now. It will leave readers on a cliff hanger at the end of the issue, but makes sure to provide enough suspense to fill the readers’ hunger. For only being a first issue it is such an exciting book and hopefully Schulner can keep up the pace and excitement of this first issue.
Rating: 5/5
What did you think of Clone #1? Are you reading this issue? Why or why not?
Select pages from this issue can be seen below.
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