© Matt Kindt.

There are some comics creators endowed with massive amounts of art talent, so that anything they turn out looks wonderful. There are others with less talent who produce work worth viewing through innovative concepts and thoroughly dedicated execution. Matt Kindt is one of those (sorry for the knock on your art skills, Matt). The idea behind this book is terrific: an ordinary guy with a dull job, an oppressive boss and an almost as oppressive girlfriend goes to sleep one night and wakes up in an alternate version of his world, one in the midst of a war, with chaos and destruction everywhere, a world where surviving from day to day is a major struggle. When an exhausted and stressed-out Sam goes to sleep in that world, he wakes up in his original dull but safe one. So it goes, each time he falls asleep, he jumps from one to the other. The same people are in both, but greatly changed by events. Gradually Sam begins to piece together some common threads, and sets out to track down a man who seems to be powerful in both worlds, and might have some answers as to what’s going on. Sound intriguing? It is.

As I said, I’m not a big fan of Matt’s art, it has a crudeness to it that doesn’t appeal to me, but I do admire what he accomplishes with it. All the pages use a duotone color scheme, but different colors for each world, helping to separate the two threads. Fine lettering by Steve Wands helps give the book a consistent voice, but everything else is by Kindt. This is a page from the chaotic world. The characters are well-developed, even if most of them aren’t very sympathetic, and the plot continues to take surprising hops, just as Sam does. I like the way he gradually evolves from a passive observer of his own life to someone with a plan to take firm control of it, a plan that takes courage and cleverness. REVOLVER is a great read, and an innovative use of the graphic format as well. Recommended.