Writer: Devin GraysonPlot: Twenty-something Meg Chancellor discovers the world of role-playing and virtual reality, as she struggles to make sense of her life and the people surrounding her.
I don't tarry in the Vertigo realm much - I've only just discovered Sandman and Lucifer - but I've followed Devin's work through various Bat-books, and with a medieval premise to User #1, it was as safe a bet as one could make.
Just as Meg slides into a new world through online chat rooms, we're driven to learn about what makes her choose fantasy over reality, and how dangerous that choice can become.
Her parents' separation eerily transposes itself through her dreams, while in reality, her father becomes indifferent to the whole affair, forcing Meg to pick up the slack in absence of her mother. Meg's workplace values revenue over reason. And worst of all, her dad's best friend has sex with her teenage sister, and her father's too blind to realize it. If that isn't a recipe for escape, I don't know what is.
Throughout the book, Meg contemplates whether there's any meaning to her life, and if what she does really matters to anyone. Thankfully, she didn't choose the suicide route, and instead finds respite online.
Rudimentary knowledge of French may allow for a more complete enjoyment of the book, as Meg can rhyme off some of the language with ease. The best example of this is in the name she chooses for her online identity, Sir Guilliame de la Coeur, which loosely translated means "will of the heart". It's exactly that will which keeps Meg going from one day to the next.
We've all been newbies before, so we know what it's like for Meg to experience online frustration, and to learn from mistakes, through Sir Guilliame. As with any game, there's proper protocol one must attend to, and that's something Meg learns quickly. She enjoys her first fictional foray so much that the spirit of her paladin identity spills over into the boardroom, where she almost ruins an important contract.
I was so pleased to find that Devin invoked the Code Of Chivalry, reprinting it for Meg to digest. I did a paper on chivalry not long ago, so when I heard Meg wax on about the lack of honour and virtue in modern society, I could do nothing but smile and nod. There are still people out there who cling to the old ways, and like Meg, you just have to know where to look.
