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by R.J. Carter Published: May 2, 2004
Mortal Coils: Bodylines is what Rod Serling might have produced if he had access to cable television: an anthology of short stories that are suspenseful, fantastical, and science fictional without actually fitting into any of those pigeonholes. They're stories that bring out the "Hmm..." in you.Set in a consistent universe, one should prepare to encounter stories of body swapping, robots with evolving intelligence, gods gone awol, and a host of other weirdities that leave the reader with a profound sense of otherworldliness. "There are three major themes to MORTAL COILS," says author A. Dave Lewis. "The Body, Control, and Reality...which are pretty interconnected with each other to begin with. As I mention in the trade paperback's introduction, I wanted to explore the experience of different bodies: the artificial body, the gendered body, the intangible body, the immortal body, etc. All of these experiences, in turn, would be compelling (or so I hoped!) based on the given individual's level of personal Control--control of what they believe to be real in relation to what truly is real. The plots to the stories weren't always written with these things prominently in mind, but they all managed to scrape to the surface by the time the final drafts of the scripts were finished." Throughout the first several stories, one begins to notice little things that clue the reader in that all these vignettes are occurring on the same world--the most obvious clue being the everpresent Batex corporation, whether overtly or as a background advertisement. These are intentional mentions, as the further into the anthology one reads, the more closely knit the stories become until, at last, the author brings all the characters together for one great hurrah as we learn just why things have been going so weird for so many. Lewis is, by all accounts, an author well-read in philosophy and literature, as evidenced through the epigrams, the Latin-educated rape victim, the English professor expounding on death, and the other characters one bumps into while meandering through Mortal Coils. Lewis doesn't write down to his audience, but expects them to rise to the challenge. To his credit, the writing assists in this, lifting the reader rather than sending him off for a dictionary (or worse, a lighter read.) In the later stories, we realize that these seemingly disparate events aren't only occurring in the same universe, but they're connected by an overarcing plot. It puts the whole set of stories in a new light, but the writing is so good, and the earlier stories stand so solidly on their own they didn't really need the merger. "The first two stories which became MORTAL COILS #1 were created separately," says Lewis. "'Disembodiment' and 'Deeper Blue' were originally written to be included in another publisher's anthology. But, when their production didn't go into effect, I decided to publish the stories myself. In fact, it got me thinking about how/why these two unalike stories would be paired together -- really, a great challenge. It allowed me to really reach out and spin together this demented MORTAL COILS universe; I generated some new ideas and pieced together some old plot seeds -- all of which surrounded the theme of Bodies, something the odd pair did seem to have in common -- building what became MORTAL COILS in the end." "Lewis has chosen a very nervy technique with which to entertain us," says comics luminary Mark Waid in his foreword to the book. "With no recurring characters or locales to fall back on, no nostalgia for forgotten heroes or 1980s cartoon robots, the stories rest purely on the strength of his narrative. Nervy. I wouldn’t try it. I’m not that good or that ambitious. That he succeeds is pretty damn impressive." Impressive, indeed. With varying styles of artwork throughout, each attuned perfectly with the individual story being told, the final product is more than just a shining beacon of the independent comics niche--it's an outstanding story that some of the major publishing houses would be hard pressed to compete with--and which you ignore at your own peril. Book reviews at The Trades contain clickable graphics which will take you directly to the item's Amazon.com page. These referrals help us to continue bringing you quality entertainment news and reviews. |
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