Zero #1

I got the "Zero" title with high anticipation Wednesday, and had saved reading it until today. To it's credit, it has an attention grabbing introduction and jumps into some pretty intense action fairly quickly. The story line initially shows a lot of promise.

The panels are rather simple with no more than 4-5 colors a page being used. The violence is depicted surprisingly well given the posterized art. There is relatively heavy profanity, but it's to be expected to an extent from a title involving a spy leaping through the Gaza strip in search of a Hamas super soldier.

Somewhat less expected is the out-of-the-blue sex scene (coincidendally colored in only tones of blue...). Two operations handlers apparently decide mid-operation and for no apparent reason to drop trousers and go to town on each other. Frankly it feels forced, awkward and fits nowhere into the story line at all.

As you progress it seems pretty familiar- a Jason Bourne set in the current political hotzone of Palestine. However, by the end of the first Bourne movie, I felt somewhat connected to the character. I did not find myself connecting with the protagonist at all. At the end of the title, the mission is over, I am trying to figure out what I've seen on the 3 pages filled with panels of awkward sex, and did not feel the need to make sure I pick up #2 next month.

And I won't be.