Comic Review: Self/Made #3

Self/Made #3

Image Comics

Writer: Mat Groom

Artist: Edwardo Ferigato

Self/Made, as the title suggests, is a comic about the lives we choose for ourselves as well as the lives that are thrust upon us. With a foundation of science fiction and a healthy dose of intermittent fantasy mechanics, Self/Made gives author, Mat Groom, and artist, Edwardo Ferigato, ample room to explore genre as much as existential themes.

Rebecca, a savvy programmer, has created the singularity. The singularity is a video game character named Amala. To test that Amala is actually sentient, Rebecca guides her creation into another game filled with space zombie-things. The leader of the space zombies is none other than Bryce, Rebecca’s corporate nemesis at the company she works at. Rebecca and Amala must win the game to prove Amala’s sentence.

There’s a lot of page space in this issue dedicated to Amala’s freakouts. She is from a medieval fantasy game with magic and dragons. Rebecca now asks her to fight space zombies and wield a high powered rifle and grenades. It’s a big change. That said, much of the dialogue between Rebecca and Amala feels like a formality. One that must happen, but also one that is predictable, obvious. The end of this issue feels much like the beginning. The dialogue used in this issue doesn’t provide the insight into the characters I’d hoped for.

Ferigato’s art is great for this piece, but little feels new about it in this issue. While the scope of his talents is impressive in terms of atmospheric worlds, I continue to want a bit more from him in the sequence of panels. In this issue, especially, there are some awkward scene changes mid-page that left me scratching my head. Perhaps this due to Groom’s script, but surely a more seamless transition could have been achieved.

Self/Made #3 is an important issue, but sadly doesn’t deliver the quality storytelling I’ve come to expect from this team over the last couple months. This issue is a wonderful reminder that telling a compelling story is extremely difficult. Amala had to question Rebecca in this issue. If she hadn’t it would have felt like a plothole. Unfortunately, all the questions Amala ask are obvious ones. Each and every action in a compelling story must be surprising and feel inevitable to readers. This issue, sadly, falls short of this ellusive standard.