The Good
Clone about Dr Luke Taylor and his pregnant wife, Amelia, living together in a moderately perfect world, until it all comes crashing down when a man who has been shot appears in their kitchen and Luke realized that this guy not only looks like him, but it is him. Who cloned Luke? How many others are out there? Can any of them be trusted?
The best way to explain this book, in a nutshell, is "What if The 6th Day was actually a really good movie?" I mean this in the most positive way. The first issue deals with a lot of the interesting elements of The 6th Day, with its own twist. Sure there have been tons of comics and films about cloning, but few have done it well. DANCER is probably the most recent book I can remember where a story featuring cloning as worked out. But this book isn't just featuring cloning, it's the focus, so I'm excited to see how this plays out.
The opening scene, of this issue, is not only a great opening for the book as a whole, but by the time you finish the issue, you'll have to take a second look at that opening scene for obvious reasons. Writer David Schulner keeps you interested in this world from page one. I really liked the scenes between Luke and his wife Amelia. The dialogue felt very natural and moved very smoothly. While the rest of the issue was great and moved very well, the first two opening scenes are what really make this a great issue.
I really enjoyed Juan Jose Ryp's art here. I had a couple of small problems, but what I love about Ryp's art is the amount of detail he not only puts into the character's, but he puts that same level of detail into the background. In one scene, we see a semi-truck in the background, and the amount of detail in the gas tank, the wheels, the axles, and gears is outstanding.
The Bad
I'm a bit split on some of the art. I've enjoyed Juan Jose Ryp's work in the past on ABSOLUTION and BLACK SUMMER, and in CLONE, and it's still pretty darn good here, but there are a couple of scenes where the faces looked a tad awkward. However, the color work, by Felix Serrano, was what really threw me off. Felix Serrano worked on the colors in this issue, and while, as a whole, the work is solid, there are a few scenes that really throw me off. In a couple of scenes, in the same room, with the same lighting, but on different pages, the skin tone changes color completely. The character in question doesn't move at all, so the color should stay the same, right?
The Verdict
CLONE 1 is a great start to this new Skybound series. Image has another winner on their hands. This is a fantastic start to a new book and it's a great page turner. The writing and art are top notch here, although I had a few problems with the overall color work in the book. I really like the story here, and it is something you should really think about picking up.
Overall, CLONE is worth your time and money and I highly recommend it.