Reset

“Reset” #1 is the latest release from comics auteur Peter Bagge, the first part of a four-issue series following washed-up and misanthropic comedian Guy Krause as he is given the chance to re-live his life as the test subject in a new reality simulator device. What sounds like a simple high-concept premise is, as it turns out, explained in some detail by Bagge, who pays as much attention to the low-level detail as the higher idea. What could have felt like a Jim Carrey comedy of social awkwardness instead ends up being a Philip K. Dick-style look at reality and how we relate to it. Krause is a reluctant participant in the experiment, resistant to what he sees as a form of psychotherapy. Although he seems the perfect candidate, revelations near the book’s end suggest that his present failures may not all be what they seem. Krause himself is a difficult lead to engage with — he’s abrasive, ungrateful and cantankerous and to cap it off, he’s not even very funny despite being a comedian.