Code 45

Written by: Benjamin Hunting
Art by: Joe Ng
Colors by: Josh Perez
Letters by: Angela Hodge

105 pages

buy it HERE.

Imagine Dragons!

Vanessa is a newbie in the Montreal Metro Transit system, a train operator who is working on the night shift. Rumors of a gigantic evil dragon lurking in the tunnels have been circulating for some time. She finds herself seeing things she can't explain while on the job. The title itself: 'Code 45' is not a standard bit of jargon written down anywhere, it's an emergency alert just for the transit people that indeed the dragon has been sighted -or has injured someone.

The reason she wound up as a train operator in the first place was with some help from her uncle Edward, she remembers him fondly as always jovial and friendly, eager to baby sit when she was little.

Vanessa is a straight arrow, you get to like her almost immediately. Pierre-Yves is her DJ roommate who wants to get her out of the house and enjoy mixing it up at his all-nighters. She's very shy, and introspective. But lonely for company.

After a few invitations to join, prodding on behalf of her roommate, Vanessa agrees and has a good time. She becomes friends with a fellow train operator Nikki.

Nikki is also very likable, a little more of a risk taker which plays nicely off of Vanessa's coolness.

There's two spots where the artwork really excels and that's where we see the dragon for the first time. He (it?) is rendered at once very ominous, but a real, palpable presence of some force to contend with, with its snarling face and sharp fangs!

Another notable page is a great zig-zag panel arrangement using the dark plus the glare of the flashlights. If this were illustrated by one person I could understand, but with two people -one penciler/inker, one colorist- I'm amazed how this could be pulled off with such clarity and solidness.

Hip vs. Un-hip

There's a lot of 'cool-ish' scenes full of beautiful people cavorting and moving to rave club dance music. They're dressed stylish and are shown letting their inner selves get unleashed. This could have been a bit silly and indulgent (think Matrix 3) but the fact that Vanessa is shy, plain and with glasses offsets the energy nicely. Another nice detail is the fact her roommate Pierre-Yves doesn't attempt a relationship with her. This isn't that kind of story.

I won't divulge the ending of Code 45 here... after all, the question of 'are dragons real' should be tackled individually. Suffice to say, you won't close this book feeling something got left out.

No email this Thursday, Happy Thanksgiving!

Next Tuesday:

Another graphic novel length work. Jeff Lemire's

"The Underwater Welder."