21 January, 2004
FAKE, Vol. 2, Sanami Matoh (192 pp, PB, 199?)
I liked the first volume so much that I went out and bought the next three the very next day, but I lent them out before I could write them up. But, given my resolution to get caught up on my book log, and the fact that I'm not allowed to buy any more comics until I've written up all the ones I've already read (and I really want to get the new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), I'm just going to do this from memory. I think I'll be able to manage.
The first "act" (as Matoh styles her chapters) in Vol. 2 has Dee & Ryo getting away from it all and going on vacation to England's Lake District. Dee, of course, sees this as the perfect opportunity to seduce his friend, and he actually makes a little bit of progress in that direction before the duo's getaway is interrupted by a murder, interfering children, another vacationing detective, and the ever-irritating J.J. It turns out that there has been a string of unsolved murders in the area, stretching back some five years. To their credit, the guys do not jump in to solve the murder in a typically-cliched manner, preferring to leave it to the local authorities and getting on with their vacation. Unfortunately, their intentions come to naught when Ryo becomes the killer's next target. Relationship-wise, I think this adventure is the point where Dee realizes that he really loves Ryo, as opposed to just "liking him a lot" and wanting to get into his pants.
There is a previously un-considered (by me, at any rate) advantage to having both members of the crime-solving romantic duo being men: I don't have to put up with the annoying trope wherein the female partner is targeted by the psycho killer, and the male has to come to her rescue. I literally cursed Chris Carter every time that happened on The X-Files (and it happened in just about every serial-killer episode). Like, couldn't Scully just once be the one to rescue Mulder from the creepy serial killer? In FAKE, they're both guys, so there's none of that annoying sexist dynamic to piss me off! Two thumbs up for gay cop romance!
I really like the second "act" in this book. Somebody Dee cares about is seriously injured in a bombing, and when he discovers the bomber's identity, he sets out to exact revenge. It's up to his partner to stop him from crossing the line. The plot is buddy-cop boilerplate, but it is accompanied by some killer character development.
Up to this point, Ryo's been developed more fully as a character than Dee has. Dee, while eminently likeable, has come off as pretty much a standard self-assured, Han Solo-esque, sexy scoundrel-type. In Act 6, we (and Ryo) discover something surprising about him, about his past and what makes him tick. It reveals a completely different side of his character. What most impressed me is the fact that it clearly hasn't been pulled out of thin air; the revelations about Dee's background illuminate much of what's come before in the story: things from little comments and actions to his adversarial-empathetic relationship with Bikky to his intense attraction to Ryo.
One more good development in this chapter: Dee is very, very sexually agressive, and some of his behavior towards Ryo (particularly during the England vaction) borders on consent issues. I say "borders," because Ryo could totally kick Dee's ass, if he wanted to. Anyway, events in this chapter clarify the issue; we see that Dee does have self-restraint, and that while he is always testing his friend's boundaries, he would never, ever cross them.
The third story is another episode in the Adventures of Carol & Bikky, which takes place a few years in the future of the main FAKE storyline. It's a self-contained side story, so it is not anywhere as involved as the Dee & Ryo saga, but C&B are a cute pair, so it's fun.
Technique-wise, I should mention that the art in this volume is much improved over that in Vol. 1. It's actually very good. So, onwards to Vol. 3.