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The Friday Review: Alias
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis If you asked most readers what the most important element of any Bendis work would be, they would probably suggest his naturalistic dialogue. But crack the surface and it becomes clear that, more than anything, it's his plotting that make or break each work. Some of his most structured work during the slower second year of Image Comics' POWERS was also some of his least interesting work. Marvel's DAREDEVIL is such a good read because he discarded the idea of beginning-middle-end. ALIAS is the pinnacle of this approach. Jessica Jones used to be a superhero, but she outgrew it. Now she lives the dream that Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett gave birth to, the private eye. She has a crummy office in a crummy apartment block and she takes on some of the crummiest cases about. And even though she's no longer a physical part of their world, superheroes just won't leave her alone. When a routine missing persons case leads her to not only discover, but record, the secret identity of Captain America, Jessica has no idea what to do next. It soon becomes clear that not only is there a bigger plot at work, but that Jessica is the lynchpin. When the missing person is found dead and Jessica is framed for murder, she's left with a decision; Give up the video to prove her innocence, or protect the hero's identity. Jessica Jones is a fascinating character study, most obviously because she is quite literally the protagonist, and not a hero. During this collection, we watch Miss Jones constantly exceed people's meagre expectations. That she obviously has no support structures in place, no friends or partners, makes her staunch principles even more impressive. She makes mistakes, but she's no longer beholden to them. The first arc is most obviously of the private eye genre that influenced this series. It hits all the major beats with some genuinely interesting cliffhangers. Most modern writers have realised that cliffhangers relying on the safety of the lead character are redundant. What Bendis has discovered is that there are other risks that modern characters can face that will prove far more interesting. The risks that come with questioning your principles. The second arc is a little less compelling in and of itself, as it deals explicitly with the Marvel universe. ALIAS, being the only ongoing series launched by Marvel through it's mature readers Max line, holds a unique position both in the current market and from a historical vantage-point. Rather than exploiting this position (aside from a minor indiscretion in the first chapter that seems more than out of place in a Bendis comic), Bendis has remained fairly respectful to the iconic characters. While his particular dialogue quirks are on display - working to best effect during a climactic war of words in a police interview sequence - it's there that the David Mamet comparisons end. Mamet works with pauses, whereas it may seem that Bendis goes the other way with an overdose of speech balloons. But, in fact it's not through the balloons that he regulates speech, but through the panels. ALIAS demonstrates Bendis' fascination with dead-space. Bendis and artist Micheal Gaydos designate their panels not according to what is inside them, but what is outside them. Rather than being limited by the size and shape of a page, Gaydos places the panels in a more representative position. The back-and-forth of conversation is heightened by each piece of dialogue's position in the panel, the size of the panel and it's relation to the rest of the page. Gaydos, a long time co-conspirator of Bendis', exceeds himself with the artwork. Pencilling and inking a larger proportion of talking heads per issue than any other artist working in modern comics, Gaydos has to work within the limitations of a Bendis script. Repetition of panels, the cinematic use of zooms or pans, these effects are all used regularly and not once has it tripped up this well-equipped artist. The fundamentals of storytelling are always evident, but they don't drown out Gaydos' unique muddy style. Attention must also be brought to two other important creators who help make ALIAS stunning month in-month out. Matt Hollingsworth's deliberately drab colour schemes are perfect for Bendis' slum locations and Gaydos' thick, blotchy inks. That his parallel work on Vertigo's THE FILTH shows a completely different palette and style shows how talented Hollingsworth is. Another long-time cohort of Bendis', David Mack, provides the photo-collage covers. While they may suffer from the same tendency as Tim Bradstreet's covers on THE PUNISHER and HELLBLAZER to be largely interchangeable, they are always gorgeous. Unfortunately, there is a rather difficult question to ask. Who is this collection aimed at? Along with most of Bendis' most recent work, this first collection of ALIAS falls between two stools. If you love superheroes, but hate crime fiction this volume isn't for you. Likewise if you love crime fiction, but find superheroes an immature adjunct to an otherwise worthwhile medium, then you're also likely to steer clear. The fundamental problem of welding two diverse genres is that you risk diluting the strengths of each. ALIAS doesn't suffer this problem; Bendis understands the Marvel universe perfectly even if he is giving us his unique interpretation of some characters, and his ability to create crime fiction is without question, as his track record shows. While any work of Bendis' may suffer from the occasional trough, there are enough peaks in ALIAS to more than make up for it. John Fellows works in the television industry providing assistive services to the deaf community. Ninth Art endorses the principle of Ideological Freeware. 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