A friend of mine just emailed my asking what I thought of G. Willow Wilson's Air. And, though I shat off a brief email, I thought I'd do one better and give a little mini-review of Air here on my blog.
-Neil Gaiman
Okay, Neil, that's a little true. The problem is, it Pynchon's got an ironic twinge; Air can't make up its mind. Let me temper that. Air's been running for about three issues. The protagonist is a flight attendant that has a phobia of flying. The first story arc took place in a country that doesn't exist--neither in reality nor in Air's reality. We've got a vigilante organization--The Etesian Front--with bizarre reach. We've got a corporation at the heart of an unnecessarily labyrinthine conspiracy.
Sounds a bit like Pynchon, doesn't it?
It's only been three issues, and, already, Wilson has set the stage for a vast conspiracy yarn. It'll be continue well; in many ways, setting the stage for this kind of thing is the easy part. The question is, will Wilson be able to break out of exposition and tell a story that requires a healthy dose of irony and black humor, or will he take himself--and Air too seriously?
We'll see.
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