Where does a reader go when a story is left without gravity? I wondered this when I finished reading the not-so-new graphic novel R.E.M. by writer Ryan Colucci and artist Zsombor Huszka. Not to be too condescending, but the title of the book is a plain nod to the “rapid-eye motion” stage of sleep — when out rest is at it’s deepest and our dreams are at their greatest potential. And those dreams are without gravity, floating freely throughout our minds until we wake. That’s how R.E.M. reads — its loosely interesting ideas with no structure to help us follow along.
I find this puzzling, as Colucci is responsible for Harbor Moon, a book I still greatly admire for its successful ambition. In that story we had a calloused and world-weary hero as we do in R.E.M. — but I liked our proxy in Harbor Moon, whereas in R.E.M. I wanted to tell the guy, Michael Letto, to get over himself.
Michael is a failed but brilliant neuroscientist who retreats into his scientific work after his girlfriend, Eva, dies. Insomnia played a part in her death, which sets Michael out on a quest to conquer sleep. But, if not sleeping is what killed Michael’s girlfriend, why does he want to make sure no one can ever sleep again? Is that not the problem to begin with? Regardless, he builds an uninviting execution-style throne that allows him to only need sleep for 30 minutes a night, and he’s good to go for the rest of his 23 ½ hours every day.
Because Michael is tampering with a fundamental cornerstone of human existence (and something l look forward to enjoying every night) various bad buys with their own nefarious agendas crop up here and there, including a Samuel L. Jackson look-alike and a hunky cultist. With all of these guys (and some girls, too) appearing to get in the way of Michael making his ultimate breakthrough, I’m not sure exactly what breakthrough he’s working toward. Yes, he’s built the technology to cheat Morpheus, but to what end… So he can be awake longer to brood over his dead girlfriend?
From what I’ve seen of Ryan Colucci’s work in comics, characterization isn’t his strongest attribute. He’s a bit of a wild-west kind of guy: most of his characters are rough-and-tumble, and are not unfamiliar with trouble. His success comes from his strength of ideas that are molded into visually stunning comic books. That’s the greatest strength of R.E.M. — Colucci is always precisely on point at working with his artists to make sure the stories being told are as graphically appealing as possible. Unfortunately with this book in particular, the story is where I’m lost.
