Two-Step

In a not-too-distant future London, Tony Ling's a Zen gangster. Rosi Blades is a bored camgirl. They've never met, but this unlikely pair is about to embark on the chase of a lifetime through the crowded streets of the city. Rosi walks through the streets of London, broadcasting everything she sees to the internet, looking for trouble to help boost her online hit count . . . and it's trouble she finds when a runaway gangster zooms past her, chased by Tony. Tony's after a stolen briefcase, and soon Rosi finds herself caught up in a war between these gangsters as the hunted flees the hunter. But what's in the case the gangster stole from Tony . . . and was it really stolen?

In an alternate London composed of theme parks, bored cam-girl Rosi Blades recognizes potential entertainment when she encounters self-declared "zen gunman" Tony Ling in hot pursuit of a dreadlocked man carrying a suggestively shaped case. Joining in the chase, she soon finds herself caught up in a madcap world of casual violence, vulgarity, and vendetta; as the Quarry gang dispatches perverse car fancier Dirty Ron to deal with the pair, Rosi and Tony face a fate worse than death. Two-Step's comedic mayhem recalls Ellis's Nextwave rather than his Planetary or even Transmetropolitan; his alternate London is a series of amusing backdrops rather than realized neighborhoods, Tony and Rosi are sketches, although complex compared to the one-note characters opposing them. The action is fast-paced, moving from absurdity to absurdity quickly enough to keep the reader amused. Although at best a light confection, Two-Step is an unpretentious and energetic display of Ellis, Connor, and Palmiotti's talents. Readers curious about the process of creation will be pleased to discover the page count has been increased with the inclusion of the original script for the comic. (Dec.)
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