The Infinite Vacation #3

Written by Nick Spencer
Art by Christian Ward

It would appear that Nick Spencer and Christian Ward have returned from their own infinite vacation and have produced another issue of this intriguing and bizarre mini-series.  I'm kidding of course - Spencer has become one of the hardest working guys in comics, with about ten monthly titles at Marvel, and Morning Glories to write.

With this middle issue, we get at some of the meat of the concept behind The Infinite Vacation, wherein people are able to visit alternate worlds, and swap lives with their counterparts, as sold through an Ebay-like phone app.  It's a cool (if mind-numbingly complicated) idea, and Spencer uses it well as a springboard to launch his story about the plot by the company that runs this to kill our protagonist, Mark, one alter at a time.

When the comic opens, our Mark is hiding at a Singularist meeting.  Singularists are people who refuse to partake in the IV, and who believe that in a world of infinite universes, there is one in which there is only one universe.  Yeah, I had to think about it a couple of times too, although the lengthy power-point presentation embedded in this comic helps to make that clear.

While Mark is hiding out, a psychotic Hannibal Lecter Mark is tracking down the other Marks that are helping him, and they get abused pretty spectacularly.  This comic has something to appeal to any number of audiences.  I can see this going over just as well with Grant Morrison fans as it will Garth Ennis's, as splatter meets high concept.

Christian Ward's toned down psychedelia really helps create atmosphere for this story.  I just hope we don't have to wait another infinity for the next issue.