Review: Spandex #3

The third issue of Martin Eden’s Spandex is a change of pace for the series, as it presents a complete story showing the team as heroes facing an overwhelming force.
As the issue begins, almost everybody in the world has been bloodlessly taken over by a mysterious alien named Nadir, who makes everything go gray, everybody think gray thoughts. Only four of the team have not been taken over, and they’re not very optimistic about their chance for winning.
The plot follows a classic “It will get worse before it gets better” standard, and does it very well, as it alternates between action sequences and beautiful character moments. These moments are, for me, another proof of the quality of Eden’s writing: take for example the scene where Glitter sleeps with Neon, their newest member who’s been temporarily taken over by Nadir, in the hope of helping him recover. There’s a short soliloquy accompanying that sequence, and it says a lot about Glitter’s personality and his current despair. Even more effective and economical is another sequence where Glitter goes to his abusive father’s home, and finds him sitting in front of a gun, thinking suicidal thoughts. With even less words, the author shows his character dealing honorably with a hurtful past.

The remaining team meets Nadir

The art is as solid as ever, with, again, a storytelling that matches anything mainstream artists can produce. The idea of having a villain who makes people go gray gives Eden the opportunity to create some striking visuals, with only spots of color (the few people still free) emerging from a sea of gray.
Of course, this story can stand as a metaphor for the dangers of uniformity or, from what Martin Eden says in an after-word and on his blog, for the effects of depression. It’s not very original to say that fantasy stories make for much more engaging reading when they resonate with real-life problems, but it’s still true.

Even the fate of Nadir (what a well-thought name, by the way), which of course  I won’t reveal here, can be seen as a metaphor, although a very grim one. But Martin Eden has proven in these three issues that he’s not afraid of putting his characters, heroes and villains, through the wringer. And Spandex is all the better for that.

As usual, you can buy a copy (paper or PDF) of this comic from the author.