Who Is Jake Ellis?, Vol. 1 (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
A lot of people have imaginary friends. Even, it seems, spies. In this case, Jon Moore, our protagonist, seems untouchable, always one step ahead of the bad guys, and he owes it all to the voice in his head: Jake Ellis, who guides Jon and knows a lot of stuff to the point of maybe being psychic but needs Jon's help to figure out who he is. This, in practice, makes for a lot of staccato dialogue during action sequences ("Run to the left! Duck! Pick that guy's pocket! Two minutes until the police get here!" That sort of thing), but it's a frantic thrill ride that never lets up. Our hero and his guide bounce all over Europe, shooting guns and racing cars and dodging cameras and getting password access into secret rooms and... Look, if you like spy movies or action stories, then you have no good reason not to search for a copy of this comic book. copy provided by NetGalleyJon is meeting with a group of...let’s call them gangsters shall we? when things seem to be going to hell. Any normal person would have fallen to a gunshot or to flames, but Jon isn’t normal. He can see and talk to Jake Ellis. A mysterious entity that only he can see, but who provides up-to-date information and warns Jon when things are about to happen. But who is Jake Ellis? And how come only Jon can see him? That’s what both of them are trying to figure out, as they also try to avoid being captured by intelligence agencies and killed by various groups. It’s a thrill a minute as Jon must avoid capture and only Jake can help him.The opening sequence to this work can be summed up in one word: wow. Or awesome, incredible or fantastic. Take your pick. How often do you start a comic, see the first three pages of events, and then get provided to an entirely different perspective of them? In this comic you do and it works really well and it doesn’t slow down there. The writers constantly keep us on the move, as Jon avoids capture and tries to figure out what experiment was really preformed on him some time ago. This comic has elements of a spy thriller, elements of James Bond, and elements of Jason Bourne, but with their own unique twists to them.The imagery, while seemingly simple at times, has elements of greatness to it. The artist doesn’t go into a lot of detail, but deals instead with a lot of light and shadows to create the figures and it works perfectly with this story. It gives it that gritty noir feel to it and an element of good vs evil, or dark vs. light. One of my favorite scenes in the story line is in the first issue, when Jon is hiding out in the church. It just has such stark contrasts of shadow and deeper shadow to it and the coloring is spot on, giving us just the right amount of light to see by. And then it gets gradually darker and darker. Absolutely fantsatic. My one suggestion...don’t read this as an ebook. The font is small and it just doesn’t work well.Overall this is is a thrilling story that will keep you on the edge of your seat and wanting to know more. It’s an absolutely perfect spy thriller. 4 out of 5 (just avoid an ebook version.)
What do You think about Who Is Jake Ellis?, Vol. 1 (2011)?
Read in LGA while waiting for a delayed flight. Great stuff, fun read. :)
—waller
The artwork was nice and breezy, but the story was uninteresting.
—weirdreturns
wow fantastic story. art work, characters...this has it all.
—bmee170
What an excellent, fast paced series. Great thriller.
—Rajatha
