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Sometimes the issue with following up a magnum opus like Bone is that, no matter how good the next work is, it will just never compare. This isn't the problem with RASL. The problem with RASL is that it's just...not good.

RASL starts off good, bundled up in mysteries and an extremely strong first issue. The problem is that, along the way, the answers to the mysteries are just never satisfying. I think part of the problem is that this feels like a 6-issue miniseries that got dragged out to 15 issues. Plot points are constantly repeated without actually getting anywhere, leaving some issues wholly pointless in the long run. Characterization is barely there. I couldn't tell you anything about the main character, Robert, by the end of the story. I could tell you facts about him, but he's basically a blank slate as far as personality goes.

And then there's the issues that get worse than that. It's clear that Jeff Smith did some intense research for this story, but then it all gets laid out on the page as characters speak in exposition. But the absolute nadir is the several issues that focus on nothing but the history of Nikola Tesla. It's interesting enough, but it grinds the story to a halt and is told with all the flavor of a Wikipedia page. I took to groaning whenever I got to one of these issues, and they always seemed to come around right as I was starting to think that maybe the story would get better.

The only saving grace of the book is Jeff Smith's strong, bold line art, but if I was going to read a comic for that, I'd just re-read Bone. The comic certainly ends up less visually interesting than that, no thanks to 90% of it taking place in a desert. Add in a layer of misogyny, and RASL stands out only as a comic that should be skipped.