Mad Cave Reviews #5
Revisiting An Underrated Character and More
Out of all of Mark London’s original series to revisit for Underworld, I got a small wish granted with a remodeled Midnight Task Force. Also I got a request around the same time from the work of Paul Tobin. Always a delight.
Exit City #1
I'm gonna hafta leave my numerical rating up top because there’s a lot I want to cover. 8.5/10
Midnight Task Force
Go onto Mad Cave’s website and the only trace of Mark London’s original concept is on Mad Cave Ones preview. Meanwhile, the only place left to find all of the original material is on Amazon.
How come? And why am I in the minority of people who actually enjoyed it?
It was a cyberpunk noir story about a brilliant but troubled detective named Aidan McCormick coping with PTSD and survivor’s guilt. Hard drinking, hard to work with, and doesn’t reach out to many friends aside from one hooker he can be vulnerable with. He knows he has a problem, but he doesn’t take the proper channels.
Honestly, this didn’t feel like the cliches seen in similar settings. Especially with how he talks to three colored objects meant to be stand-ins for his military teammates that he lost years ago. Their voices help Aiden in his cases while also providing commentary on Aiden’s mental state.
Aiden genuinely feels like someone who has been through loss, especially with his spotted background of not having a normal childhood. The only thing keeping him going at all are the voices of his lost friends.
When a serial killing flayer is on the loose, Aidan is forced to call on his only surviving teammate. Who he cut contact with after their squad’s massacre. But even that is not enough when Aiden gets captured by the flayers maker after a corrupt cop let’s them take Aiden. What for? Probably to have Aiden’s mind to play with in her mad experiments.
Tangent
From what I can find from reactions, I think I found peoples’ problems with Midnight Task Force.
For half of the runtime, the title team doesn’t show up.
Because it’s not really about them; it’s about Aidan.
Most characters other than Aidan are cliches: jealous corrupt co-worker out for Aidan’s glory, doting police chief, token female co-worker, chauvinistic cops, bitter ex-girlfriend, etc.
That said, Aidan’s origins are underdeveloped and spotty.
I don’t even know what the Midnight Task Force brought to the table.
Some people were expecting this to be more of a crime drama, not a sci-fi suspense thriller.
Personally I thought that was great, especially the implications about Aidan’s only friend on the force.
Kept me guessing how the arcs would end, probably Aidan accepting those voices and objects were just placebos.
Because at the end of the album was a massive cliffhanger.
What Exit City Does To Fix These
My guess on why London aborted Midnight Task Force is that he wanted to rework the concept to iron out the flaws.
Rather than have McCormick carry the entire title’s weight, there’s more going into Exit City.
The titular setting is a character in its own right. A city-state of Silicon Valley tech bros where the sky’s the limit. No trends, limited resources, or ethical restrictions to hold them back, nothing is too outlandish. There are rich lives and interesting people everywhere.
Including McCormick’s new partner Eve Miller. She’s not only a great foil to McCormick’s clean stoicism with her wisecracking, Eve’s got her own drives and ambitions with networking, social skills, and deductive reasoning. She’s not afraid to get her hands dirty for results, because she knows how to play by Exit City’s unspoken rules; even moreso than the powers that run it or the self-righteous.
While Eve is competitive with McCormick to a degree, she just wants to move up in life, not be Exit City’s golden girl. It’s through her that the pacing and relationship with McCormick is a bit smoother.
McCormick meanwhile keeps his brilliant yet prickly characterization without going over-the-top. He seems less of a shellshocked lone wolf veteran trying to mask his sorrows and more of a guy with high moral standards. He lost the only people he knew he could trust and is surrounded by people always ready to give him a hard time. The lengths McCormick goes to stay connected to what’s left of his friends is sympathetic as much as it is resourceful. But readers can’t help but be dumbfounded with Eve when they find out this private detail.
It gives a sense of unease where readers hope won’t make the rest of the series won’t be too hard to get through.
One last bit I have to address is the scenic presentation. It gives a good sense of scale with environmental storytelling, especially when some scenes will play a major role like when McCormick and Eve drive up to the crime scene with a very dented sign and a bag. It perfectly tells readers something big happened while implying that bad situations are kind of the norm.
So yeah, while I’m not too into the lines and little details in human characteristics by Karl Mostet and David Baron, on the macro they look very good.
Rank is back at the top
String #1
Paul Tobin has no shortage of ideas especially the kind that are just out there with characters. String makes a very strong impression with its en media res. You don’t see a maniac throw a dog at someone, especially when one person is holding a gun. Then the maniac brings out dynamite attached to his chest. It’s an all out attention grabber that leaves readers questioning who are these people, why is this happening, how did it happen?
The next few pages go into everything smoothly. First by introducing readers to the lead Namgung Yoon-Sook whose bright design stands out in a mostly sterile police department. As much as people’s uncomfortable reactions to her. Enough to drop everything they’re doing and avoid her presence. Save for a nonbinary detective. …That gives a lot of impressions.
Thankfully the pacing doesn’t leave the reader in unnecessary suspense. A 16 panel page sets the general tone while providing visual exposition to Yoon-Sook’s titular ability. All while the effect of this ability happens on the next page.
As for characterizations, Yoon-Sook is memorable in the best ways. In contrast to the every”person” Detective Luke Mayfield, Yoon-Sook is driven to take life in strides. She owns her ability as a part of her enough to make a small living. Where the weird and wild doesn’t bother her, making the more mundane absurdities easier. Or at least it does for the reader and people getting to know Yoon-Sook. She feels like someone who has lived a full life but still has more live for. Including an arc on being more aware of the effect her ability has one people. Especially with the issue’s ending that leaves a lot of questions.
So for presentation that gives the reader a clear gist of the story without sacrificing characterization and pacing, this gets 9/10.