“You can’t rez a simple goalpost?”
Tron #1
SLG Publishing (April, 2006)
“Ghost In The Machine”
WRITERS: Landry Walker & Eric Jones
ARTIST: Louie De Martinis
EDITOR: Dan Vado
Please note a few things before the review starts. This is based, or rather continues, the video game Tron 2.0, which came out well before Tron: Legacy and the game, despite being a direct sequel, may not be considered canon officially. I don’t know if there’s a list of what is and isn’t considered canon by Disney or the movie producers. I sadly have yet to finish this game so there may be details better followed if you did. I do want to finish it as it was quite fun. I’m also guessing on the credits with the help of the Grand Comic Database since they’re gag-style credits tied to the movie and game presentation.
Following the events of Tron 2.0 Jet Bradley has redrawn from technology, now that he’s been basically in the world inside the computer and is having trouble not seeing them as living beings that get destroyed by deleting or reformatting what’s on your computer. Jet’s father, Alan (yes, that Alan if you haven’t played the game–Bruce Boxleitner even returned to voice him), is worried about his son and sends him to the same therapist that is not only helping Alan deal with Lori’s death but helped Flynn through his own experience in the computer. One night video footage shows Jet coming into Encom and shooting his father, but it wasn’t the real Jet. He avoids the police and enters the company to see the footage for himself, but police show up before he can further investigate and is forced to escape into the computer world, where he’s drafted into a new war.
What they got right: Unintentionally of course, but the story here can connect with Tron: Legacy in that Flynn disappeared after his experience. Going by the movie we know Flynn disappeared and it could just as easily have been being captured in the Grid by Clu as the result of what happened here, and Flynn’s obsession with his time in the computer world could have led to the Grid’s creation. There’s a handy recap of the first movie and video game at the start of the comic, with just the important details to understand the comic. There’s a mystery set up as to Alan’s supposed murder and Jet’s connection to the computer world either “psionically” or just his nightmares due to his experience.
What they got wrong: It’s the painted art style again. Longtime readers know I’m not a fan but at least I can tell everything apart. It does leave everything so dark that it’s a surprise I can tell things apart, and it looks better in the handful of computer scenes than in the real world (and even then I blame the later sequel movie rather than the game for even making that palatable since Tron 2.0 used more bright colors even in the computer world) but it’s still a reminder why I’m not a fan. Jones should have just drawn it and let De Marinis do the computer world, if only because the contrast between worlds would have been interesting.
What I think overall: It’s an okay start, but we haven’t gotten to…the bunny yet. I remember back when the comic came out that was when I started losing the plot so I’m curious to see what happens in this second readthrough over the next few weeks. Join me the next few Fridays (barring incidents) and see where this vectorized train is going.
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