Review by: Sergio Porras Amongst the many relationships and friendships that social media giant Facebook has ruined, who would have thought that it would single-handedly take down a top-secret cloning program? Welcome to the first five issues of Clone, an epic sci-fi adventure, set in the present, that follows Dr. Luke Taylor on his adventure of trying to find his wife and new-born all while figuring out why there are several thousand clones of himself.
The story kicks off with a guy named Foster, who we find out is one of many clones, being chased through a neighborhood and eventually shot in the stomach. Coincidentally the main character, Luke, is having the same dream of being chased and shot. Unable to sleep Luke decides to finish putting together the crib for his unborn daughter and reassures himself that nobody is out to kill him. A few hours pass, Luke is dressed and ready for work. Before leaving Luke finds a trail of blood and at the end of it he finds himself, bleeding out from a gunshot wound to the stomach. Luke rushes over to himself and is trying to figure out what the hell is going on. With little time to explain Foster try's to make light of the situation with a few wise cracks but quickly explains to Luke that he, his wife, and himself are all in great danger.
Let me be honest... The whole idea and most of the dialogue for the first three issues are pretty cheesy, but if you can get through those issues, it's honestly not that hard, you'll be impressed by a really smart story once you see the big picture unfold. As you’re introduced to some of the characters you start to relate by putting yourself in their position. Take for instance Vice President Charles. He's one of the few people who knows about the cloning program and is caught between both sides of a serious political battle. If he decides to break with his party and vote against the ban of embryonic stem cell research he will be a hero in the eyes of his wife and daughter who at a young age has developed Parkinson's, and will risk his entire political career. If Vice President Charles votes for the ban then he will be turning his back on his country and is in turn for the killing of thousands of Luke's clones. That's just one example of many dilemmas that so many of the characters are faced with. As the series progresses you will start to notice a central theme revolved around moral being and not just of the clones.
Juan Jose Ryp and Felix Serrano are both batting a thousand with the art. Ryp has an incredible talent for bringing out the realism of each panel. His facial expressions capture human emotion so perfectly, which works well with all the twists and turns that the story takes. Serrano must be going through his own version of a blue period. Every single page is filled with at least two different shades of blue. That may sound boring if you're never seen the art but it works magnificently with and helps other colors jump off the page.
Clone is a must read series and quickly became one of my favorite Image titles. It has the look and feel of a big budget sci-fi thriller with so many twists and turns that it will make your head spin. If you love a story with several different plot lines for different characters then this is the read for you. The one and only down side to this is its release date. The book is now two issues in to its second arc so you may want to read this quickly and hope to find issues six and seven at your local comic shop.
Score: 5/5
Writer: David Schulner Artist: Juan Jose Ryp Publisher: Skybound and Image Comics Price: $12.99 Release Date: 5/29/13