Comic Info
Comic Name: Air
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo
Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Artist: M.K. Perker
# of Issues: 5
Release Date: 2009
Air #8
Reprints Air #6-10 (March 2009-August 2009). Blythe has met a legend. Amelia Earhart is not only no longer missing, but she alive…and she has a tale to tell Blythe. Bluthe learns about the true power of the hyperpraxis and its abilities, but Amelia is about to discover that Blythe might uncover more about the hyperpraxis’s abilities than she ever has. Blythe finds herself on an adventure through time and space and learns that she might become closer to Zayn than she ever expected as a result.
Written by G. Willow Wilson, Air Volume 2: Flying Machine is a DC Comics title released under the Vertigo imprint. Following Air Volume 1: Letters from Lost Countries, the science-fiction collection features art by M.K. Perker.
Air was a fluke purchase. I found all but one of the collections at a bargain sale and decided to pick it up. I like G. Willow Wilson’s take on Ms. Marvel and thought I would see some of her other writing. Air has its moments, but it also feels like it is still developing.
Air feels a lot like other Vertigo titles in format and telling. Like books like The Unwritten or House of Secrets, the format seems to be tell a core story then have a seemingly detached “origin” story to break up the telling. This process really seemed to pop up during The Sandman and Vertigo latched on to it. The problem is that you really have to have a main story that connects for the other stand-alone issue to work.
Air #9
Air is still lacking that connection. I like Blythe, but the whole hyperpaxis storyline (which is the thrust of Air at least at the moment) is a little vague and ungraspable. The core idea seems to be that everything is arbitrary…words, names, and in particular maps. The basic concept of a map is real, but symbols are applied by humans…bypass the symbols and you bypass the map and the rules governing it. This might (or might not) be the idea being floated in Air, but it is having a difficult time explaining it.
The art for the series is nice, but it is also rather typical because it is meant to be. There aren’t any superheroes and there are no costumes. These are supposed to be people rooted in reality and dressing accordingly. The variety arises from the abilities of the hyperpraxis and it feels like since the series is rooted in reality that the hyperpraxis should be even more mind-blowing than it is presented.
Air is a work in progress. I am willing to take the ride and see where it goes, but at eleven issues in, I wish that it was covering more ground or developing a more compelling storyline for the characters. The conspiracy, the government agents, and the hyperpraxis might lead somewhere great, but it hasn’t gotten there yet. Air 2: Flying Machine is followed by Air 3: Pure Land.
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