PAUSE #1 – Gives You Time To Think (REVIEW)
Image: Storm King Comics
The latest title for “John Carpenter's Tales of Science Fiction” is the six-issue miniseries Pause. Written by Matthew K. Manning (DC Vs. Vampires World War V) and illustrated by Conor Boyle (Mega City 2099: Thin Blue Line), it tells the story of Henry Jacobs as he navigates the world when it suddenly becomes frozen in time.
The story is conversationally narrated in a way that evokes a Twilight Zone-style story, while also serving as rapid exposition and characterisation for Henry. For the most part, there isn’t much characterisation, but what you are given is precisely what to expect out of a first issue, with more expected to be gradually revealed in subsequent issues as it becomes relevant. This first issue primarily establishes that Henry is a bit of a drunk and a shy loser. He’s also possibly a screw-up as you get the impression his brother is tired of him for some reason. However, he’s also a kind and sympathetic man, a trait shown through his insistence to free an aggressive dog that he trapped, purely because he’s afraid it will starve to death.
The events of the story are well framed and plotted out to give the reader time to think and speculate, along with the characters, but they never drag out to the point where pages are wasted. The mystery of the phenomena is central. Unlike a lot of ‘time-stop’ stories, the cause of it in this case is completely unknown, along with why only Henry was unaffected. As a new element I hadn’t seen before, Henry’s touch unfreezes people and objects, a power only he possesses. This would imply that the phenomenon is most likely man-made and specifically targeted at Henry. However, this only raises further questions for which there aren’t any clues at this stage. Though not to discount the possibility of random or natural phenomena, as this would imply something biologically unique about Henry that he wouldn’t even know about that not only protected him from the time-stop but allowed him to negate it.
The pacing and framing are really nice and make interesting use of frames inside a larger shot to emphasise where Henry’s attention is. It also uses tilts and variations of variations in size and arrangement of panels to fluctuate with Henry’s state of mind, from drunk (where panels are varying sizes and shapes) too nervous (wide shot perspective in oblique shapes and angles) to focused (rigid, repeated shapes lined systematically).
The artwork has a nice grittiness to it that exemplifies the feel of middle-class city living and appears to be intended as Henry’s perspective (even when in third-person) and how he thinks and feels about his surroundings. It has a sort of scrappy and functional vibe with a lot of muted colours, with bright contrasts to hyphenate Henry’s focus. It may also be characterising Henry as the sort of person who is just accepting of what is around him, largely taking his world for granted. The artwork and depiction of the characters are neither overly colourful nor optimistic but also aren’t grimy or depressing. It keeps the general feeling very grounded and dour, even after the freeze takes hold, rather than becoming adventurous or bombastic. This matches Henry’s reaction to the events, being that he is pragmatic and keeps much more level-headed about the situation (all things considered). The use of colour to distinguish between the frozen and unfrozen, though a bit of a cliché, also helps frame the action and intrigue without any dramatic change in the art style.
As a first issue, this is a promising beginning. “Pause” respects the reader’s time and attention, it gives no more than it needs to and doesn’t waste any panels. It will be fascinating to see where this goes and to find out what the big cause is. It will also be interesting to see just how Henry will navigate the moral quandary of taking advantage of his surreal situation.
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