This blog is part one in a series based on the Thought Bubble anthology released by Image. You really won't get the content unless you've read the stories, as I won't be talking about plots in depth.

"Rat Trap" was a very interesting introduction into this anthology. It immediately hits you over the head with a foreign scenario. Two men meet over a dead body. The culture of these "runners" is to strip dead bodies. They are nomads and they generally leave each other alone. Here, however, one runner has bumped into another runner who is already pilfering a body.

My first reaction was that the reader is given an adequate idea of the etiquette that these runners live by - they only take from the dead - yet someone shows up and decides to take from a fellow runner, as well. A death threat is issued and it appears that this scavenger is no longer content with being a passive collector but wants to enter a profession that is more proactive. He'd rather kill to get things quicker. Fortunately, the other man simply gives up his stuff and walks away. The aggressive runner begins to rummage through his now two-fold loot when he trips a bear trap that snaps his leg and keeps him pinned to the ground. The passive runner returns and, deeming the aggressive Other not worthy of saving, takes his stuff and leaves. I thought this fitting. You get what you tried to dish out.

Then I recalled the slight "chnk" that alerted the aggressive runner in the first place. This collection of comic tales are to be read like comics in general, but also with a short story mentality. With so little space to convey the message, everything added must be looked at as being integral to the plot. There is only the one sound. As the passive runner goes through the dead man's things it seems that he only makes the one distinct "chnk" noise. No others. Nothing is shown and we can't assume other sounds drew the one runner to the other. Couple this noise with the bear trap. When the trap is triggered the passive runner returns and explains that good runners know to check the areas around dead bodies for any danger. How far off would it be to assume that the passive runner set that bear trap?

But wait, doesn't this fly in the face of the code the passive runner claimed to still live by? He essentially killed that guy. Maybe this understood code of conduct isn't so well followed after all.