Plastic

Readers with long memories (or the ability to click on this link) may recall that I’ve had my eye on this series ever since it was first solicited.  It’s got a setup that’s just wrong enough to get me interested:  Edwyn used to be a serial killer.  He retired after he met Virginia online as she helped to calm his “urges.”  They’ve had a great decade together, and then Virginia gets kidnapped by a Louisiana billionaire who figures he can use her as leverage to get Edwyn to take care of a problem of his.  Edwyn agrees because he’d do anything for Virginia, the love of his life.

What’s the catch here?  Well, Virginia is actually a sex doll.  That aside, her relationship with Edwyn actually comes off as normal and healthy in all other respects.  You even believe that our protagonist would go all “Taken” on the billionaire’s crew to get her back.  In fact, “Plastic” isn’t all that dissimilar from that classic Liam Neeson vehicle as it’s all about a man using his special skills to get the one he loves back from some very bad men.  Thinking about it even more, if you replaced “retired serial killer” with, say, “retired marine” and turned Virginia into an actual girl this series would be virtually indistinguishable from your run-of-the-mill action/revenge flick.

Working in “Plastic’s” favor is a darkly comic streak from writer Doug Wagner as Edwyn goes about terrorizing the bad guys and striking up genial conversations with the likes of Virginia, a dead deputy, and a live girl who is really accepting of the awful situation she finds herself in.  The writer also makes him sympathetic protagonist throughout as Edwyn is always killing the bad guys in brutally efficient ways.  This is also a miniseries which benefits from some surprisingly good art as well.  I’d never heard of Daniel Hillyard before this, but he turns in some great art that’s strongly influenced by “Invincible’s” Ryan Ottley.

“Plastic” is certainly not for everyone and I can imagine there are those who will be disgusted/disappointed by how its serial killer protagonist is presented as a broadly heroic figure.  For me, at least, I appreciated its warped sense of humor, brisk pace, and quality art.  I’ll look forward to seeing more from these creators as they ultimately delivered the right amount of wrong with “Plastic.”