Zeb Larson reviews Invisible Republic #10…
A betrayal from within has deadly consequences.
This might be the weakest issue of this series, in the way that it frames the conflict between Maia and Nica as well as Croger’s “decision” between the various factions. For a while, I’ve been hoping that there would be twist to Maia’s diary that would show the story she’s telling to be to her own benefit. In essence, I was hoping that Maia would be a player in all of this the same way that Nica is. Instead, the choice seems to be between a faultless idealist, and a corrupt, anti-democratic aristocrat. Where’s the interest in that? What’s the point of telling a story about politics if there’s a clear-cut good guy? Warning: I will be discussing spoilers from here on out.
Maia remembers her and Arthur’s escape from the farm, which was precipitated by the murder of one of the others (more than likely by Arthur himself). Flashing a bit ahead, Maia tries to persuade Arthur to leave, but before she can, the building is bombed. Jas is the culprit; Maia believes he simply snapped. They manage to escape and head to Luis’ place. In the present, Croger meets with the elderly Nica, who insists that she and her family are the only ones who have the “expertise” to run Avalon. Croger is unswayed and goes to free Fran from the government; he secures her release, but in the process, destroys the diary. It’s too late to stop its spread, though, as Croger had sent it to his ex-wife, who is busy publishing it.
The long hiatus didn’t do this book any favors. Four months between issues made sure that I had completely forgotten who Jas was and what was going on with him, so the revelation that he had bombed the building didn’t carry any real dramatic weight. Speaking of misplaced dramatic weight, Croger’s decision to save Fran doesn’t really mean very much. So much of the early parts of this series was about Croger as a schlub, trying to find some story that would resurrect his career. The decision to destroy the book and kill the story could have been a noble one, so when it’s immediately revealed it’s intact elsewhere, all it earns is a shrug.
The political conflict has turned out to be a pretty shallow one, at least in the short-term. Nica and the provisional government are clearly set up as the bad guy, while Maia is the good guy, and increasingly she seems to be one free of any human flaws. Nica utters the standard dictator clichés about “governing not being left to amateurs.” Why not explore some of the serious issues, like the fact that Nica’s hypothetical government has the best shot at actually being treated as legitimate by Earth? Or the fact that a government run by any relative of Arthur is going to be burdened by a lot of mistrust?
For that matter, the significance that this diary is assuming to starting to assume comical proportions. Diaries can be edited, manipulated, twisted, and outright forged. Even if none of that is happening here, would people really flock to a dictator’s cousin because her diary suddenly appeared? Wouldn’t Maia be at least partly right when she says that the diary might not mean anything except to her? It made more sense in this series when the diary would lead Croger to investigate new things and serve as a kind of road map, but it’s hard to imagine this serving as a rallying political document.
Maybe I was right earlier and Maia’s playing her own game, in which case my feelings on this story arc would change. It’s still possible that the twist is there, but I feel like the possibilities are dimming somewhat.
Rating: 5/10
Zeb Larson
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Originally published June 9, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
