2 out of 5

This starts out really strongly for its first couple of issues and then… I dunno, gives in to its publisher’s tagline.

Liminal Comics’ first venture, Future Echoes would initially seem to be a haunted house tale, with wheelchair-bound Alan setting up his ghost-debunking equipment in a mansion prior to its attempted opening as a museum.  Perhaps in part thanks to the author’s own experiences, Alan’s believable interactions with his world and his small crew help ground the comic immediately; there’s an appreciable frankness to his approach – very clinical, being there to disprove the supernatural, after all – and acceptance of the adaptations he must maintain to do his job.  Later in the tale, there’s some back and forth about maneuvering without the use of a chair, and instead of this being presented as an outright showing of mental fortitude, Davison (to me) more realistically has Alan express some fears about the social politics of, very literally, crawling on the ground.  These are the types of indirect thoughts that come from actually understanding a character and not just writing to purport some mission statement.

Alan’s investigations find some interesting historical tidbits in the house, suggesting the celebrated artist who lived there may have held a young woman captive.  Some apparitions occur, which Alan is quick to dismiss, until a story night and some intrusive lightning cause these visions to become… undeniable.

Davison and Yen Quach split art duties between, essentially, the “real” and the ghostly, with Davison’s clean lines and digital colors on the former and Quach taking a very sketchy, water-colored approach on the latter.  Normally mash-ups look like that term implies, but this is actually really well done; back-matter in issue three shows how much planning went in to properly syncing the experience, and it shows.

And for two issues, this holds my attention really well.  It’s surprisingly open-ended, letting Alan’s inquisition into events guide things for the most part, which allows us to feel like detectives as well.  But then we must remember Liminal comics’ mantra: “Love Stories for Outcasts, Rebels & Misfits.”  Because suddenly in issue three – and I do mean suddenly – it becomes a love story.  Now, I believe I get the intention here: that a bond is supposed to have formed during the course of this spectral investigation; investigator getting obsessed with the investigatee and whatnot.  But we needed a couple more issues to actual present that, because, as is, it simply ain’t there, and – spoiler – my first inclination when seeing a ghost probably wouldn’t be to bone it and then profess love, but hey, why not.

Things get sloppier from there on out, though not in a sexual context.  We get the background on the haunted business, and, similar to the quick turnaround on the whole love bit, it’s in a rush to dramatics, which thus leaves out any justification for it.  Again, I can make assumptions based on generalizations, but that’s not an effective way to interact with your reader, I don’t think, and so the good will of the first couple issues felt quickly tossed aside for mystic fluff and unearned emotions.  Unfortunately, because that ends up being the story’s m.o., it overrides the positives when you’re rereading it, as it makes the earlier character and setting work done somewhat pointless.