Zeb Larson reviews Roche Limit #2…
“Alex and Sonya forge a dangerous alliance as they work to find Bekkah. Meanwhile, Moscow moves to take control of the colony’s underworld, and three mysterious beings add to the mystery of Roche Limit.”
There’s a lot going on in Roche Limit, and the creators are not willing to simply stop and spell it all out for us at this stage. In this issue, we do get some useful revelations about the characters, especially Alex Ford, and some more background on the Roche Limit colony. It might be another few issues before we can call this series a keeper, if only because the characters are still being established and the context is being created. Regardless, if you’re willing to be patient with this comic and just let it deliver answers to you in its own languid way, it’s shaping up to be a really solid read. I’ll be going over the general details of the comic here, but I won’t be discussing any big spoilers.
This issue covers as much narrative ground as the previous issue, covering several characters who we haven’t actually met yet. There’s some narration from Roche Limit’s founder about the way that faith can be shattered, and we see a bit of his life in the colony. Moscow, the drug boss whom Alex works for, gets a frightening introduction as he philosophically rambles about “the black sun” while high to one of his minions. Alex goes to visit Gracie, a woman whose business nebulously involves protecting girls, and turns her loose to try and save Bekkah. But in doing so, he lets slip to Sonya that he has more of a history with Bekkah than he was previously letting on. The two girls in the desert are as yet a mystery, although it seems that somebody is looking for them. Lastly, the doctor we only briefly saw last issue meets with some of the people he’s working on behalf of.
My one wish for this comic is that there was a cheat sheet of names attached to every issue, because there are a lot of characters to keep track of. They also don’t usually announce themselves, and having a list to refer back to would make tracking the events a little bit simpler. On the flip side of that complaint, I do enjoy the progressive revelations about Roche Limit and its unfortunate inhabitants. This issue is mostly about Alex Ford, and the new knowledge about him is certainly enlightening.
The ambiguity of the story is liable to turn off some readers. There are suggestions throughout the comic that this has a supernatural or alien explanation to what’s going on, but nothing is concrete yet. Gracie was seen last issue, but was not really introduced. The two girls in the desert are a complete wild card for the story, as the only thing we know about them is that they have a thing they think is valuable. Compounding that is the fact that there’s not a lot of action in this issue. Lots of people are threatened at various points, but nobody is following through on promises of bodily harm just yet. I personally love the unfolding mystery.
Alex’s characterization is consistent with his presentation from last issue as a morally compromised man. He’s looking for a way out of the hole he’s dug himself in, or at least to help somebody else out of it. Sonya is still light on characterization. She’s apparently honest, tough, and wants to find her sister, but it pays to be suspicious of anybody who comes to this colony, and she isn’t exempt from that. The fact that her dialogue sometimes falls into the “tough cop” cliché, doesn’t help, as when she talks about always being able to pick out liars.
The opening narrative, which I can reasonably believe to be Langford speaking, is an interesting one. In my last review, I noted the similarities between Roche Limit and Bioshock. Bioshock is a series that is very critical of the idea of a “great man” and his vision. Roche Limit seems to occupy more of a middle ground, not criticizing Langford or the idea of a man like Langford, but noting that reality does not have to obey the wishes of great men. I’ll be curious to see how Moreci and Malhotra flesh this idea out as times goes on.
Zeb Larson
