| SYNOPSIS:
Elijah Snow goes to see a magician (she prefers the term "scientist") he has not seen in many years, telling her The Four are now Three, and he's looking for ways to remove the rest of them from his picture. The woman, Melanchta, ignores him and blathers on about plants...sorry, just kidding. She offers him a cup of tea and while briefly recaps the work of a couple of noted physicists, noting how these men knew that not enough attention was being paid to the microscale. "We contain universes," she says. While Snow focuses on The Bleed, what lies below? This segues into a history of the use of drugs by oracles and mystics throughout history, dating back to ancient times, and she then coolly informs Snow she has drugged his tea. Sensing his alarm, she explains how she is sending him on a journey into the Microverse -- the universe contained in a grain of sand. She talks him through that journey, at the end of which Snow learns he doesn't belong. As he returns, she notes to Snow that given the wonders, and the vastness, of the universe, as well as his special place in it, surely his role is far more important than merely waging his war on The Four. Snow's face tells us he realizes she may be right.
REVIEW: My guess is that many people found this issue a little bit talky for them, and granted it doesn't compare to seeing Snow kick Dracula in the stones, but this is an important issue that's a nice follow-up to the Greene storyline of the previous two issues. Snow continues his mission to eliminate The Four and gets a cold hard dose of reality about how much bigger (and smaller, ironically) the universe is than his one-man war. "We contain universes," he is told, and then shown, sent into the microscale to learn what's beneath the surface of his one man war.
 What he finds is that he is not human; that neither he nor any of the other individuals born on January 1, 1900 are part of the natural order of things. They were brought into the universe to do a job, and it's a job which has to be more than simply battling four evil individuals. It's a lesson Jakita certainly thought Snow needed at the conclusion of the previous issue, and a lesson that reminds Snow, and us, of how much bigger the storylines are here than simply Snow vs. The Four.
Most importantly, for me anyway, is the reminder that Elijah Snow himself, at his heart, is still the man he was back in the 1930s. He's colder, he's more bitter, he's more vindictive, and he's lost his way a bit -- but he's still a man who tears up in the face of the wonders of the universe: "I didn't want them to go away." One hopes this new knowledge will help him remember the man he's been for the past century, rather than the man he's been the past few issues.
As usual, the issue is inspired by some real science, and in fact the real scientists -- Richard Feynman, whose 1959 lecture "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom," can be found here, and Eric Drexler, who introduced the term nanotechnology in relation to Feynman's vision -- have been faithfully represented by Ellis. There are too many web sites covering these men to cite one here; a simple google search for their names turns up plenty.
There’s something else here, though, and it’s vaguely concerning for those of us thinking of Snow’s future. Snow has quite literally been sent to a place of souls -- a world of the dead. And he doesn’t want to leave.
| |  Random Thoughts:Looks like the entire universe thinks Snow is spending too much time making war on The Four. Still, I'm kind of sympathetic to Snow here. Is he supposed to just idly sit around and let Dowling continue to steal and destroy the wonder of the universe for himself? I'm sure the man would be putting up strip malls in Melanctha's precious microverse if he had half a chance.
Again Snow makes no reference to Leather being captured already.
I spent some time rearranging letters in Melanctha's name, figuring it probably is meant to suggest Alchemist or something. "Alchemant"? That will have to work.
A whole lot is jammed into this issue. The bar where Snow met John Stone for a drink. Meditations on the soul, the universe, the Bleed, the microverse, and the world of the dead. Plus, a beautiful woman slips a mickey into Snow’s drink! Very cool.
Last but not least is the reference to Aldous Huxley and his doors of perception. You can try to run, and try to hide. Break on through….sorry.
Rating: 8/10. Talky but kind of important, I think. |
