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A review by adperfectamconsilium
Enigma by Peter Milligan
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Michael Smith leads a mundane life. He's drifting, stuck in routine. So much so that he only has sex with his girlfriend on Tuesdays.
Everything starts to change for Michael when there are reports that the costumed hero known as Enigma has clashed with the murderous Brain Eater, a horrific villain called The Head.
Trouble is neither hero or villain can possibly be real because Enigma was Michael's favourite comic book as a child.
Michael sets off to find Enigma and discover the truth behind his existence or whether it's all a product of his mind.
When the characters The Truth and Envelope Girl also appear from the comics things get even more weird and I haven't even mentioned the floating lizards or a murderous league of clowns.
On his journey Michael teams up with the writer and creator of the Enigma comics. Can they work out what is going on?
Peter Milligan gets deep and philosophical with this and creates an interesting story of self-discovery and sexual identity fot Michael. It feels ahead of its time and the narration acknowledges the reader, not so much breaking the fourth wall as eradicating it completely.
The art by Duncan Fegredo is scratchy, messy and verging on ugly to start with. And yet somehow it suits the story and the writing took me past the look so that I was immersed. I thought I'd grown to like the style and then realised it subtly changed throughout the series becoming more refined and fluid in what I guess is a visual representation of the change in Michael's mind. This is clever stuff (unless I'm wrong and Duncan just improved very quickly 🤣).
It's a story that makes you think. It transcends genres. There's a bit of horror, mystery, fantasy and literate drama all merged into this.
An interesting work and well worth tracking down.
Everything starts to change for Michael when there are reports that the costumed hero known as Enigma has clashed with the murderous Brain Eater, a horrific villain called The Head.
Trouble is neither hero or villain can possibly be real because Enigma was Michael's favourite comic book as a child.
Michael sets off to find Enigma and discover the truth behind his existence or whether it's all a product of his mind.
When the characters The Truth and Envelope Girl also appear from the comics things get even more weird and I haven't even mentioned the floating lizards or a murderous league of clowns.
On his journey Michael teams up with the writer and creator of the Enigma comics. Can they work out what is going on?
Peter Milligan gets deep and philosophical with this and creates an interesting story of self-discovery and sexual identity fot Michael. It feels ahead of its time and the narration acknowledges the reader, not so much breaking the fourth wall as eradicating it completely.
The art by Duncan Fegredo is scratchy, messy and verging on ugly to start with. And yet somehow it suits the story and the writing took me past the look so that I was immersed. I thought I'd grown to like the style and then realised it subtly changed throughout the series becoming more refined and fluid in what I guess is a visual representation of the change in Michael's mind. This is clever stuff (unless I'm wrong and Duncan just improved very quickly 🤣).
It's a story that makes you think. It transcends genres. There's a bit of horror, mystery, fantasy and literate drama all merged into this.
An interesting work and well worth tracking down.