Bone was one of those rare comics creations that received both tremendous commercial success and high critical praise. Jeff Smith could have parlayed that into landing a lucrative deal with an established publisher. And yet with RASL he returns to his black-and-white self-publishing roots. Even more interestingly, instead of publishing the series in thicker "graphic novel" volumes, he chooses to work in the traditional pamphlet format as he did in Bone. Working within these limitations, each pamphlet forms the outlines of a single chapter within a larger work. The first issue becomes the prologue. Smith is adept at this kind of pacing, and in this case he thrusts the reader right into the action. A unnamed art thief is in the middle of a heist which doesn't go smoothly. Fortunately for him, he has the uncanny ability to jump between dimensions. How he acquired this goes unexplained, but it grows increasingly evident that someone may be aware of his ability and is after him for unknown reasons. This is all that is needed to set-up the narrative. The protagonist is introduced, a conflict is framed, and a number of mysteries are presented to draw the reader in.
Smith is as skilled a cartoonist as ever. He seems to have no problem drawing gritty urban settings as he did valleys and the forest filled with talking animals. His art thief is as unpleasant a character as the Bone cousins were small and huggable. It's still the same cartoony style which triggered those Walt Kelly comparisons, but adapted to a very different subject-matter. There isn't a whole lot of humor, but there is a great deal of forceful energy. Smith uses very little dialogue for this issue, but instead employs the technique of narrative captions as a way to reveal the character's inner state. He manages to avoid the trap of dumping too much information by carefully balancing captioned panels with silent action-filled panels. But the restraint also serves to control the pace of the story. Only a few details are revealed by the end of the issue before it ends. But this serves only to raise more questions.
Where Jeff Smith will eventually go with RASL is the most interesting mystery of all. Just as in Bone, Smith is taking his time establishing the tone of the narrative. Only gradually will its contours be revealed. That he lets it unfold within the confines of the pamphlet comic is itself an important choice designed to keep readers engaged. He succeeded before in building and maintaining a fanbase for more than a decade, and he has the clout to repeat his success in today's radically different market.
