A man awakens in a seedy motel room, with no memory of how he got there. He then emerges onto the street, into a world he doesn’t quite understand. Fortunately, another man, Marcus, happens to be passing by, who recognizes this stranger for who he is: acclaimed author Benjamin Carp, author of hundreds of cult classic science fiction novels and winner of a fair number of prestigious awards.

The problem is, Benjamin Carp died decades ago. But whoever or whatever is here now has all of Carp’s features and all of his memories, up to the exact moment of his death, as if no time at all has passed.

He also has Carp’s personality. That’s the other problem. Benjamin Carp is a self-important jackass who speaks in grand, flowery language in order to prove to everyone around him that he’s smarter—and thus better—than they are. Even though he’s several decades behind on history and culture, he’s still convinced that he knows better than everyone about absolutely everything. But in spite of that, hopefully Carp and Marcus can work together to figure out what’s going on, what it means, and what to do about it.

The concept for this comic is fascinating. It’s also really, really difficult to like the main character. Which is by design. He’s clearly supposed to be an over-the-top, almost caricature of a pedantic, pompous ass. The fact that I hate him so much means that the comic is well-written. And writer Ben Winters does throw in a humanizing moment for Carp, where he’s able to connect with Marcus and help him out.

Hopefully, Carp will have a character arc, or at least mellow out a bit as the series progresses. Aside from that one issue, it is a really interesting story, and I like the dynamic between Carp and Marcus. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Creative Team: Ben H. Winters (script), Leomacs (art), Luca Bertelè (colors), Becca Carey (letters)
Publisher: Oni Press
Available for purchase on June 18th!