Fiction Clemens is what Serenity would be like if Joss Whedon was using hallucinogenic drugs--which takes into account that it wouldn’t be as well written, but to say someone isn’t as good a writer as Whedon is a broad description. The writing in Fiction Clemens is good, and it’s a lot of fun to read.

Fiction Clemens is the name of the main character who gets into a misunderstanding in a saloon with Tiberius Kitchens. He’s saved when Dune Trixie, crawling on the floor drunk, accidentally knocks a bottle onto Kitchens’s head.

Since Kitchens is powerful physically, politically, and financially, both Trixie and Clemens are taken to the desert and dumped there--for their own safety. They wake up and start heading home while mindful that Kitchens is likely chasing them.

They stumble upon a village where adults look like kids and vice versa--a scene that has several points that tell the reader that things aren’t always the same. When they run into Kitchens, they manage to knock him out and hospitalize him. Though they reach their destination at the end of this issue, there are a lot of loose ends as the Kitchens family continues to chase the pair.

I liken the story to Serenity because Serenity is Sci-Fi with some Western aspects, and I’d describe Fiction Clemens as a Western with Sci-Fi aspects. The hallucinogens come into play because of the psychedelic imagery and the fantasy aspects that spice up the setting even more. Obviously this can’t be set into a specific genre--though that’s exactly what makes me like it so much. However, I can see where people might be turned off by it.

The art can be described in the same ways as the story. I hope to see more art from Jolton and Marmontel in future titles. The settings remind me of Ren and Stimpy cartoons, but the characters are very unique and they fit nicely with the story. Marmontel really makes it all pop with bright colors that sell the psychedelic part of the exterior scenes.

Some of the scenes aren’t that great, but the art makes up for it. There had to be a scene showing Clemens and Trixie being taken out to the desert, and though Wagner makes the banter in it fun to read, there isn’t anything remarkable about it. However, the art makes up for it with images like the driver who is a bug-like man with bulging eyes and eyelids that are pinned open.

Though there are some things that are going to rub people the wrong way, I think there is a lot to like about this comic. The setting is just so fantastic that it’s worth picking up for that reason alone. If you have even a slight interest in this, ask your comic shop to pull a copy of it for you.

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