As issue #2 of Boom Studios Uncanny Valley opens Oliver is still attempting to come to grips with the lunacy that has been introduced into his life. We catch up with him as he plays catch up with his newly discovered grandfather, Pecos Peet. A pit stop in a diner allows Peet the opportunity to divulge a few noteworthy details to his grandson. Though with Oliver’s mother and The First’s followers in hot pursuit, even after all we learn this issue you get the sense that’s not all folks.
Uncanny Valley #2
Writer: Tony Fleecs
Artist: Dave Wachter
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
With this second issue of Uncanny Valley, writer Tony Fleecs adds some classic cartoon physics and philosophy to Peet and Oliver’s adventure. Not only is this information useful as the duo flee the pursuing Dingo, it produces more than mere highway hysterics. See, although toons have used this issues tricks since the dawn of animation, after Peet’s words, they seem less otherworldly. Particularly as the pairs current predicament finds them hanging on for dear life, dangling high above a deep dell. It is here that the long absent grandfather asks Oliver to do the impossible, suspend his disbelief. Trust.
As a reluctant Oliver listens, Peet teaches his grandson some of the trusted theories of toon traversal. Upon letting go, Peet instructs Oliver to also let go of what he assumes will occur and simply walk. By merely ignoring gravity’s existence, Oliver realizes he can overcome it’s limitations. Meanwhile, despite being a still image, there is a remarkable sense of motion in artist Dave Watcher portrayal of Oliver walking on thin air. Both of these instances coincide with Peet’s earlier comments to Oliver of the minds ability to “compensate” for things. The grandfather explains this is what allows cartoons to exist in our reality without causing a commotion. According to Pecos, we tend to tune things out and accept the odd and unusual, the extraordinary, as merely ordinary.
However, by teaching Oliver how to cross the canyon or when he paints an escape tunnel, Uncanny Valley, via Pecos Peet, pokes holes in some proven “truths”. From what is and isn’t real, to what we each are capable of and our limitations. Whether it’s pulling a paintbrush from your pocket or as Pacos admits, what does it take to be a parent. What you truly believe is possible, for and from you, is the biggest factor for how things in your life go down.
And what’s up, Doc.
Score: 8.7