RECAP/REVIEW: The Infinite Loop #5 – “You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat.”
In the last issue , Teddy and Ulysses arrived at the anomaly factory. In this issue their rescue operation is a-go!
Shall we begin?
The issue starts with a Tina, Spender and Prospeckt. They’ve managed to recover from Teddy’s beating and are pretty pissed about what’s happened; you can tell that Spender and Prospeckt are especially upset because they repeatedly refer to Teddy and the other versions of herself as “bitches”. I get that we’re not supposed to like them, but there are other ways to create dislikeable characters without insulting women in the process. And with their boss is in the room, it’s kind of like they’re disrespecting her too. The pair is ready to call it quits, but Tina has other ideas. I’m glad we at least get to see Tina in charge for a change.
Teddy and Ulysses meanwhile are outside the facility, looking for a way in. Ulysses rushes forward as he sees a dinosaur near a child in front of the facility. When they arrive the child informs them that the dinosaur is harmless; their name is Andromeda and they are there to take Teddy and Ulysses to Ano. Ulysses’ ask Andromeda (in a rude way) what their gender is. Andromeda switches genders and this is shown by the change in their physical characteristics: e.g. having curves and long hair when they switch to female and having short hair and broader shoulders when they’re male. In response to the question Andromeda tells Ulysses they don’t want to be defined the “dark age system of gender”. I think it’s great that the creators are including genderqueer characters in the comic, however presenting Andromeda’s genders physically presents a problem as physical characteristics aren’t related to gender; not all females have boobs and vaginas and not all males have penises and broad shoulders.
The interior of the facility looks different to what I imagined. Considering anomalies are treated as sub-human you would think the factory would reflect that: everyone in cages, maybe a guard or two. But it’s actually much nicer than that. The factory is like a society with hundreds of human anomalies living together…well, not exactly in harmony. According to Andromeda, they’ve started separating themselves into different classifications, just like how the erasers separated them from the rest of humanity. Looks like the infinite loop has struck again.
As the team arrives outside Ano’s door they meet a group of well-known figures from history. Emmett Till, Jean Jaurès, Reverend James Reeb and Qiu Jin are all blocking Teddy’s path because…I’m not sure. Emmett Till says they’re angry at Teddy because she let them die; it’s like they’re all blaming her for killing them. Why are there dead people in the anomaly factory? Are they anomalies now? But they weren’t out of place in history, they were either killed or they died. And what does Ulysses mean when he says “you’re the incarnation of the infinite loop”? This moment is supposed to be an epiphany for Teddy but it falls flat because it doesn’t make sense. You don’t have to get into every aspect of the world, but it needs to be a bit more developed before words like “temporal anomaly” begin to make sense in the context of the comic.
Eventually, Teddy breaks through the group and finds Ano in the room beyond. As they are finally reunited, Tina launches her attack on the factory.
Looks like we’re in for an action packed next volume! How will the group fare against Tina’s surprise attack? Tune in next time to find out!
