Rasl

Rasl written and illustrated by Jeff Smith.

I like to give shout out to books, movies, or TV shows I've invested time into that don't normally get a lot of attention.  This book is one of those books that hasn't gotten a lot of attention from the main stream comic press because it wasn't part of the big two comics DC or Marvel.  But this comic book needs to be talked about because it was so much better than most of the combined output of the big two.  Also Jeff Smith is one of few writer/artist who's new work needs to be talked about when it comes out.  I mean he made a huge impression with his series Bone (of which I still need to read and am waiting on tip toes to finally be able to dive into that world) so just based on that series alone anything he puts out needs to be addressed.   Rasl, unlike most comic book actually has a beginning, middle, and an end, so much so that I would put it in the category of a actually book than a comic book.   It's also a good 400 pages long, and when it ends I can actually say I would to see another part of this story continue.

Rasl stands for Romance At the Speed of Light.  So yes, it is sort of a romance story as well as being a sci-fi story mixed in with some historical Tesla also.  I've got to admit the story has a Tesla theme running through it, which is one of the reasons I was drawn to reading it.  I've been a Tesla fan ever since I heard about him and his inventions, so with this story having any form of Tesla in it, automatically peeked my interest.  And the Tesla involvement was well rewarded. 

This story revolves around parallel worlds and electricity as the main character of Rasl weaves his way through them and the various relationships of his life also.  It is a very character driven story as Rasl is front and center of everything that happens and as the story pulls away layer upon layer of his history he becomes a fascinating and complex character.  The story is full of action, science, romance, sci-fi, and is really a good mixture of them all without anything over shadowing the character of Rasl.  All in all it was good time I spend in a world created by Jeff Smith.