Boom! Studios 4 issue mini-series
Scripts: Brian Joines
Art: Bachan
After reading the first two issues, count the Ugly American as also heartily endorsing IMAGINE Agents.
You had an imaginary friend as a child, right? Well, the IMAGINE Agents are tasked with keeping these "notional entities" in line. Think "Men in Black", with a more specific jurisdiction.
Agent Dave Slatern (the grizzled, jaded vet) and rookie Terry Snowgoose (hapless comedic relief) are drowning in cases. Seems a a wayward notion named Dapple has a revolution in mind, and he's recruiting other rowdies with an eye toward interacting more directly with the tangible world. Caught in the crosshairs of all this mayhem are a host of colorful notions and regular folks like little Elliot and his mother Rebecca.
This is an all-ages book in the truest sense. You can hand this to just about anybody, and they'll find something to grab hold of. The reason to do a book like this is to dismantle the governor on a creator's imagination and just let it rip. IMAGINE Agents does not disappoint on that front. The main Notional is Furdlegurr, who looks like a fat teddy bear, and there are plenty of other cutesy creatures if you're into that sort of thing.
Blounder is a pink blob who really takes an emotional beating in this comic and steals every scene he's in. The visuals run the gamut - some of the Notions are ill-conceived amalgamations (their forms are influenced by the undeveloped minds of children) that lean toward the creepy and bizarre. My favorite is Jupert,the "wild west" tyrannosaurs acting as deputy sherrif of the district where the diaspora go when their children can't see them any more. I don't know what a "Bachan" is, but they're doing a bang-up job selling interesting looking characters.
What draws me to IMAGINE Agents is that it's deeper than it's cartoon exterior. Agent Slatern (who clearly has a checkered emotional history with his own childhood Notion) forces Blounder to confront the idea that his unnaturally sweet relationship with Molly might cripple her ability to form relationships in the real world.
Not all the Notions have that syrupy bond with children, however. Pono got saddled with a kid who quickly got bored with him, tossed him in the corner and promptly forgot him. Joines has a very solid structure in place for the Notional world and the rules it plays by. Notions take a form that is chosen for them. What a drag, even if you found the box you were placed in aesthetically pleasing! It's a narrative demonstration of how part of what we are is constructed by other's perceptions.
Pono being stuck inside that weird plant sells the idea of societal influence more powerfully and with more subtlety than 99% of the comics on the rack today, who think jamming propaganda down your throat with a dirty plunger is storytelling.
It works in IMAGINE Agents because it's built into the story organically, and serves the story in terms of motive. Some of the Notions are just destructive people who enjoy breaking things. But many of the Notions find Dapple's plan attractive simply because they've grown attached emotionally to the "real world" and want to be a part of it. How would you feel if everything in your life was stripped away from you because the person you cared about most happened to turn 8 years old? That's the life of an imaginary friend.
So there's a lot to like about this comic. It looks fantastic, it has heart, and it's extremely tightly plotted. There is exactly zero fat in Joines script - every word and image serves a purpose, and the pace is quite brisk. I honestly wouldn't mind if the script were allowed to meander a little more, because the character moments are so strong. I think it's smart, though, especially in today's market to err on the side of less decompression and more story density.
Not for nothing, but Elliot's mom Rebecca also has the highest MILF quotient in comics. That's important.
And hey, for you Market Spotlight folks...I would say that IMAGINE Agents has higher-than-average investment potential, because this property is absolutely begging to be made into an animated feature.
Now, the "movie option" game is a bit played out, and the windows for that game are getting incredibly short. This is different, though. Not everything that gets optioned is actually good. If exposed to a larger audience, IMAGINE Agents will really grab hold of some hearts and stick. It deserves a shot in your reading pile, for sure.
PS: the imaginary friend bit is an inspired hook, I would say. Most of us have experience, yes? Or am I the weird one?
As a child, I had two imaginary friends running simultaneously: Mark and Guggees. Guggees rhymes with "juggies", only with a "guh" sound at the beginning, if you're curious. Mark was a bit of a bad seed. If I threw a Hot Wheels car at the dog.....that was probably because Mark thought it was a good idea, not because I was a little asshole. He was sort of like the devil on my shoulder.
Some people have a little angel on their other shoulder to balance things out. Not me. I had Guggees. He was an impulsive but hilarious lunatic. So if Mom laid out my clothes for an exciting day at kindergarten, I might switch things up and wear two different colored socks to school. That would be the Guggees Factor.
Everyone, please try to contain your shock that my two formative phantom influences were a sociopath and a certifiable nut bag. I think Mark and Guggees had pretty much left by the third grade, so I think the 8 year rule feels about right to me. Now it's all me. If I throw a Hot Wheels car at your dog? I'll own that. The point is, keep your dog in line and nobody gets hurt.
Next up: I think we'll start tackling the 2013 year in review!
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