The Infinite Vacation

The Infinite Vacation #1

Written by Nick Spencer
Art by Christian Ward

Action Ash
I wasn't even aware that this was written by Nick Spencer, of Morning Glories fame when I purchased this book. I saw it was coming out and thought it looked interesting, but it wasn't until I picked it up to read it that I saw the name and recognised it. If you've read my praise of Morning Glories then you will not be surprised when I when I say that I liked this too.

Plot: Mark lives in a world where if you're bored of your life, it doesn't matter. You can just buy the life of a another you from an alternate reality. However, no matter how many times Mark makes a switch he still ends up in the same boring dead end situations. Also versions of him are dropping like flies and he's worried that there might be reason other than chance.

In my opinion the story is original and unoriginal at the same time. It seems like I've come across this sort of thing before but it's done in an interesting way and seems to be making a point about current Internet/phone application culture. The story unfolds in a nice way and in some ways reminds me of a film or TV programme.

Aesthetically this is an interesting book. The main reason I like the art is simply because it's different from what I'm used to in mainstream comics. Ward does a great job of giving the feel that this world is like ours but completely different at the same time. One way he does this is by mixing the literal depiction of what's happening in the story with abstract colours and shapes to help portray what the characters are feeling. There is a cut and paste element to the backgrounds which I think really works and the middle pages fold out into a fantastic two page splash panel that would make a brilliant poster.

TL;DR = It is a good read and looks pretty.

3 and a half alternate reality cruising me's out of 5