Mind the Gap #7

Written by Jim McCann
Art by Rodin Esquejo

In this issue, Ellis, who is in a coma, has woken up in the body of Katie, a young girl who was just taken off of life support.  Her good friend Jo arrives, and they try to talk, but as is to be expected in this sort of situation, all hell breaks loose in the hospital.  Jo tries to get some rest, makes friends with the nurse that has been helpful, meets the assistant to a psychiatrist who is also in a coma, and tries to help Ellis escape when she sees the guy in the hoodie who attacked her in the hospital corridor.

In other words, a lot happens in this issue, and McCann handles the pace very well, so it never seems like there is too much happening.  More hints as to what is really going on are being dropped all over the place - Ellis's mother almost gives herself away as being involved, and I'm sure there are a number of hints being dropped in the analysis of the statements Ellis first made when she woke up.

One of those really stood out though, when the nurse attributed the phrase 'sleeping furiously' to "a long-dead guy, Chomsky".  When exactly did Noam Chomsky die?  And why doesn't the internet seem to know about it (I just checked my facts)?  Up until this point, no reference was made in this book that made it seem like it was taking place in the future.  Now, with a comic like this, I start to wonder if perhaps this isn't a mistake on Jim McCann's part, but is in fact a clue.  Or, conversely, perhaps no one needs to check facts on a book like this, since errors can just be treated as red herrings that ultimately don't lead anywhere.  Still, it confused me.

I like this comic, and am enjoying the mystery of what happened to Ellis.  I do find some of Jo's judgement to be pretty questionable in this issue, but McCann already explains some of that by showing us just how exhausted she is.  Rodin Esquejo's art is lovely, but in the scene where Jo finds Dane's father sitting by Ellis's bed, I had no idea who he was at first, as he looks like a few other people in this book.  Otherwise, a solid issue.