From the Random Stack of Unread Comics.
Title: Runner's Paradox
Date: December, 2007
Publisher: Awakening Comics
Writer: Steve Peters
Artist: Steve Peters, Ray Millers, Bryan Wilkinson, Scott Elyard, Michael Jaecks, Will Jones
This comic is a companion piece to Steve Peters' musical album, Paradox, with each chapter of the comic corresponding to one of the songs, and the song lyrics appearing between the panels of the story. All of the contributors to this issue are members of Micropolis Embassy, a Micronauts toy collecting group, and there is some Micronauts-themed influence in some of the extra artwork that appears throughout the book.
Runner, a fox, is tasked with defending a lonely stretch of desert road from ghosts that menace passing truckers. A small sailback dinosaur named Caesar is his faithful companion, and he has occasional visits from a flirtatious fairy, an angelic muse, and the robot beings who assigned him to his lonely version of purgatory.
Much of his musing are spent on his unrequited love for Mel, one of the truck drivers who travels the nearby road.
He also meets the ghosts of Kurt Cobain and Marilyn Monroe, and is (briefly) beamed aboard a passing starship.
This story had a lot going on, and some of the bits felt like they could have been expanded on. All in all, though, it was full of surreal surprises, and a lot of introspection. Runner is an interesting character who genuinely tries to do good, deals with a really difficult situation, and sometimes has to deal with the consequences of his own bad decisions.
The use of lyrics worked well, and symbolic elements have good interplay with the plot of the story.
Rating: 8/10
