Loma, an alien girl who has problems of her own - not really fitting in, idolizing an out of style poet who went mad, a boyfriend she doesn't really seem to be in love with, and an inability to really feel - wants more.   She uses this Madness Vest (maybe the same one as the original Shade used, maybe not?) to slip into the body of a human girl, Megan, who's brain dead.  

Except that she doesn't realize that Megan was a bully who terrorized her friends, and even her parents.   Everyone was hoping she would die, if only so that they wouldn't have to live under her rule of thumb anymore. 

So when she wakes up, she doesn't realize everyone is acting oddly, and wouldn't know why even if she did know.   Loma is simply trying to experience something different while staying one step ahead of the madness.

It's fascinating, and speaks to how a girl might not quite fit into the world she once conquered so easily.   It's also not for kids, but well worth reading for a teenager, or an adult.   

So far, I want to know more about both Loma and Megan.

I was really disappointed in Mystery Girl by Paul Tobin, having read some of his work in the past and been very impressed, such as with Bandette.  

And I really wanted to like Mystery Girl.  I liked the idea, I liked the first few pages I read, but everything went downhill pretty fast.  16% of this 100 page comic book featured nudity, stripping or character postures that looked straight out of porn.  Sure you could argue about that 5 page fight sequence when one of the police detectives, discovered passed out naked on his bed (with porn visible on his computer screen) and a fight ensues.  However, there was a narrative reason created in that scene for why the man was naked (how much sense it makes is up to the reader to decide), but in scene after scene women are depicted naked for only the reason that they're sex workers, so they're always naked.

Which brings up another interesting point.  Of the prominent characters in the comic who were women, half of them were sex workers.  And only background characters (often older women) did not conform to the body type of a model sports illustrated model.  Why were so many of the characters not only strippers, but also sex workers?

Ok, so let's just say that Trine has ties in that industry and so friends, but don't they ever just wear casual clothes?  Apparently not.  In another scene one of these women is drawn in a shirt in one panel, but in the next panel where she's sticking her body out a window to yell down at another character she has taken her shirt off.  The only conclusion is that the artist wanted to draw big pointy boobs and pander to the male gaze, while alienating and devaluing/dehumanizing women.

Add to that a ridiculous plot involving sociopath hitman (how original), a clueless scientist girl, and a plot to hide a secret diamond mine that was discovered when an expedition uncovered mammoth remains in Russia. (The diamonds were apparently discovered buried in snow, already cut and glowing).  The whole thing culminates with a woolly mammoth ride.  I'm being serious here.  Yeah.

The veil in Eugene is thinner than anyplace else in the world.  That allows creatures from other worlds and dimensions to slip through.  These creatures can be accessed by those who seek power. Amon knows that things are coming to a head but thus far he has been unable to convince Gwen that she has an important role to play.  Gwen however is only interested in hanging out with her friends and her new boyfriend Horatio, the monster hunter who still doesn't know that she's a zombie. Gwen won't be allowed to to be passive for much longer though, the shambling zombies have made an escape from a secret underground labyrinth thus forcing her to confront the supernatural world on terms that simply aren't her own.

iZombie is at its best when it's doing the scooby thing. Six Feet Under and Rising opened up with having the group fulfilling and the wishes of a recently departed soul and sending if off,  it quickly shifted to dealing with: Galatea, the government zombie killing group the Dead Presidents and Spot's disappearance. Six Feet Under and Rising is action packed but all of the action also made it seem so very cluttered.  Where the hell did the Dead Presidents come from all of a sudden?  If that were not enough, we also have zombie Russian cold war era spies and the brain of a mad scientist in a jar.  It's all too much too soon and without enough context to make it feel anything other than chaotic.

The Dead Presidents did give us some added diversity in the form of a take no nonsense Madison the zombie.  Madison answers to Lincoln but while out in the field, she's the undisputed boss.  Madison like all of the other zombie agents pay a price in that it costs them their original meat.  I get the sense that there's so much more to her character and cannot help but wonder if she's actually the original Madison but placed in a black female body.  I must admit to laughing at the idea that Nixon is the president that seems to get on everyone's nerves.

We didn't actually get to see much of the scooby gang together this volume.  Spot spent a lot of time trapped in the catacombs with the zombies.  I love that Gwen jumped right in there to save him though Horatio suggested she should just wait on the sidelines.  From the moment Gwen entered the catacombs there was no chance that it would end well for her in terms of keeping her secret.  I love that she was willing to jump in front of Horatio to save Spot should Spot be discovered in his full were form.

Speaking of Spot, perhaps the most interesting revelation about him thus far is not that he is so virginal that he's never kissed a girl but that when the thought of kissing a girl occurred to him, he suddenly thought of Gavin, Gwen's brother. What does this mean? We know that in UVampire (volume two), there was a lot of taunting of Scott because he is perceived as gay by his friends but there was nothing overt in the story to suggest Scott actually being gay or bisexual. Scott's instantly confused by his thoughts of Gavin but it's enough to make me wonder if iZombie is going to make Scott canonically gay?  Given the homophobic taunting that iZombie's engaged in so far and the absolute erasure, it would go along way to improving this series.  I for one am sick of Scott mooning over Gwen; however, if Scott should in fact be gay, things won't run smooth with Gavin because it seems that Gavin is possessed.

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So, I'm left feeling confused and kind of conflicted. I finished this first volume with a ton of questions, and a kind of "What did I just read?" vibe about the whole thing. Here's the skinny: the art is wonderful, the characters are charming, the storyline is where things seem to fall apart. I'm all for a slow build up, but honestly? I'm not even sure where this is headed.

If I had to guess, I'd say that Gilbert Hernandez was using this first volume as a means of introducing the "world" that's being built. The characters are fairly built up, going so far as to peek into their backstories and see why they are the way they are. I was smitten with the art style too. It seemed to fit this story just perfectly, with it's careful sense of whimsy. As far as the build up goes, that completely made sense.

It's the series of events that occur that really had me scratching my head. I fully support vague panels, and working up to something epic. Still, if I'm left wondering what on Earth (or possibly not on Earth) is even going on, it takes some of the magic away. None of my questions were answered. Nothing made sense. I admit, it all drove me a little mad.

Would I read the next volume? Probably. If only to find out what is actually happening to this village. I only wish this first volume had drawn me in a little more.

I was going to take a shower, then I happened to visit Edelweiss and look what I found that you could request. 

Personally I'm quite interesting in Harrow County Volume 1, Sherlock Holmes and the Necronomicon, Jack the Ripper and Age of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians. :)

Edit: They added Prometheus: The Complete Fire and Stone. I want that one quite a lot!