By Peter Bagge
Publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781616550035
So what with the recent release of Other Stuff we’re rather spoiled for all things Bagge at the moment. Whereas Other Stuff is a collection of lesser known stories and strips Reset is presented as an original graphic novel and all new to boot (although, cheekily, it was a four part comic first).
The story opens at one of those American drivers’ education classes that can form part of, or be an alternative to, prosecution, and we get to meet Guy Krause, a rather grumpy minor celebrity whose star has been fading for some time. Unknown to him he’s being singled out to take part in a radical trial to explore the possibilities of a fantastic machine. Guy’s told it allows you to virtually relive past experiences and explore a way of finishing them differently in a kind of a Groundhog Day way. Guy wouldn’t be in the past, but it would feel like he was.
Guy’s got a lot of issues and the trials barely get off the ground before he’s thrown a wobbler and stormed out. And then there’s an underlying air of mystery as to the trial’s purpose and its ultimate aims that Guy steadily reveals as he enters a cycle of quitting and rejoining the project.
So this is Pete Bagge having a crack at a sci-fi story, and you can tell from very early on that this isn’t Bagge’s bag. Good sci-fi takes a concept and runs with it, exploring the possibilities and impacts, but this tale just doesn’t seem to get to grips with itself. The technology is rather absurd and the explanation to how it works just sounds daft, so if it weren’t for Bagge’s sense of humour and mix of grotesque and misfit characters it would pretty much fall flat on its face. Fortunately, he is good at the latter so it saves itself to some degree, but as a sci-fi story with a conspiracy thrown in it’s pretty weak stuff.
Bagge’s best when writing about ordinary people coping with ordinary lives because he recognises that none of us really are ordinary but all have our quirks and absurdities that others have to deal with. With Reset he’s trying to pull off something grander and, sadly, I don’t think it really works.
And if you liked that (or didn’t in this case): Give the recent Other Stuff a read – Bagge at his best
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