(RASL #1-7) The story is gripping with a good amount of history of science and bizarre and a pinch of sexy. The drawings are excellent, tight, well-planned. The dialog is smooth and real. Smith executes the conventions of noir as a genre well. I suppose I find some aspects of the genre a bit annoying, especially the lone hero who narrates everything in his thoughts so we can understand what's going on. Still, this is less problematic on the page than it is on the silver screen (that is, reading Sin City makes it seem less cheesy than watching Sin City, for example.) I would prefer the explanations of the current predicament of the hero in flashbacks or conversation with other characters rather than us following him walk or drive or steal a Picasso painting as he "thinks" these explanations. But to his defense, Smith does it all: flashbacks, black outs, dialog, history show-and-tell, the whole works. Perhaps he wants to add this to the mix. Perhaps without it the first "pocket book" would be too long, which may not be desirable from a publishing point of view.

One thing I certainly like is that the main character is not a pristine soul. In fact, he is morally very suspect. And his convictions regarding the secret project he is working on with his partner are somewhat surprising, though utterly human as in inexplicably inconsistent. Again, the conventions of noir are apparent in the way the character is presented as an immoral man with principles he will risk his life for. He may also be inclined to risk his life for a woman or two, almost like a true gentleman.

I will read the second book. The ending of this first book is not a huge cliff hanger, which is good, because I hate to be so obviously manipulated, but the momentum of the story is truly building up by the end of this volume. Another good thing about the ending is that it allowed me to have a hypothesis forming about what will happen next and who the weird lizard looking guy might be.

A warning for Bone fans: This is not Bone. By that, I mean, it is an entirely different Jeff Smith you will find. This is not a bad thing at all. On the contrary, the finesse Smith employs to create such a different work than his previous masterpiece demands awe and praise. ( )

Let's just get this out of the way early--if you're coming expecting a tale like Bone or a book for kids like Bone is...don't. This is a completely different, darker tale and most definitely not for kids. It is however, a pretty darn fantastic story.

Rasl lives in a world much like own and a time like our own. But Rasl is not like you or me. He has the ability to travel across dimensions into parallel universes. He uses this unique ability to steal art from other places and sell in his own. But Rasl wasn't always this way. He used to be a top scientist, working with his best friend for the military till the day it all came crashing down. And now its coming back to haunt him as an assassin is on his trail hunting him through multiple dimensions and killing the people he cares about over and over. Rasl is running hard trying to evade the assassin and protect those that he cares about, but he doesn't have much time left.

The artwork in this series is very similar to Bone (well outside the Bone characters that is) and is classic Jeff Smith. He uses a lot of short, little lines to convey depth to the characters, scars, tears, whatever is needed. The proportions aren't always correct, but Smith does an excellent job at capturing the emotions of the characters and providing a grim/harsh setting that goes well with the story. And the writing is superb for the most part and keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting to know more. The transitions are a little bit rough early on and it gets a little bit confusing to figure out what's going on until you read the rest of the book and then it makes a bit more sense. Overall though a most compelling story.

I really look forward to seeing where Smith takes the series and finding out more about the other dimensions and Rasl's past (and the weird/creepy assassin following him.) An excellent start to a new series. ( )