An inter-dimensional art thief, deformed assassins from government science labs, Aztec mysteries and Nikola Tesla; these things would probably rate pretty highly on topics you'd not expect to be covered in a book released by Bone creator and maverick auteur Jeff Smith. But 4 issues in and RASL still invokes such topics confidently, all while managing to delight and disturb in equal measure.
To those new to the series, RASL follows the titular hero as he dons a device that allows him to 'drift' between parallel universes, stealing art from one to sell to a buyer in another. This process (while having a debilitating effect on Rasl every time he jumps) was going pretty well until a mysterious rubber-faced assassin starts following him through the the drift. After all, as if screwing over government facility The Compound wasn't enough, Rasl is also messing with the space-time continuum. Even OJ would have a hard time getting off with that one.
As exemplified in Bone, Jeff Smith has an uncanny knack of crafting a slow reveal during each issue which hints at a thousand part epic cached in the creators brain, just waiting for his hands to catch up and draw the damn thing. Previous issues have spurred this belief along with tantalizing flashes of events in Rasl's past and future, but this issue expands the scope by attaching historical figures (Tesla, Einstein, Roosevelt), quantum physics and WWII-era naval experiments to the myth.
On top of that, while we all knew Smith could write funny and melodramatic dialogue brilliantly, RASL shows that he does gritty just as well. There's some terse back and forth between Rasl and Sal (the newly revealed name of his pursuer) that further cements their relationship as archenemies, and some suitably weighty captions as Rasl relates the roots of his inter-dimensional experiments in the aforementioned flashbacks. Importantly, it's all enthralling. This is one of the few titles I pick up which leaves me completely ensconced in its environs for the 10 or 15 minutes it takes me to read.
Of course, the other benefit of Jeff Smith's work is the artwork. Smith states on the letters page that he's aiming to get out “three 32 page issues of RASL a year,” and while some may balk at such levels of decompression, if it remains at this high standard I'll have no complaints. Sure, you can feel the fingerprints of the hands that crafted Lucius Down and Thorn Harvestar, but otherwise this is a stern departure from Bone's more light-hearted moorings. Violence, desperation and horror are etched vividly, helped in no small part by some fantastically moody lighting and inking. And a word to the wise: in this issue Jeff Smith draws the scariest little girl this side of Bioshock and The Ring. Who'da thunk it.
RASL is weird and dark, and still manages to establish its ground in real-world environment without ever coming off as hokey. If you like Warren Ellis and (to a lesser extent) Grant Morrison, this book is definitely for you. Back issues seem hard to get, but the trade of the first 3 chapters should be on the shelves about now. Save yourself the dollar and disappointment of watching X-Men Origins: Wolverine and bag yourself this indispensable read.
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