Legacy Of The Father In “Bash!”

Bash! – written by Rudy Gobert and Hellef Bay; drawn by Vince Serrano – takes place in a dystopian sci-fi world. The main character Rudy is an aspiring Bash player. Bash is the futuristic game that this particular universe revolves around. Rudy’s determined to make it all the way to the top. The main crux of the story is the mystery surrounding Rudy’s missing dad, Atlas. He disappeared after an accident during Rudy’s childhood. His mom feels conflicted about him participating in Bash due to his father. He too was also once a Bash player. However, the events at play are much larger than Rudy’s internal conflict. A Commodore from the planet Sybelius – for which Earth now functions as a colony of sorts – is searching for Rudy’s dad. A former Bash player and friend of Atlas draws him into the conflict by revealing Atlas’s secrets.

The art for Bash! has an incredibly original style! It draws inspiration from anime, producing heavily stylized figures that look phenomenal in action shots. It’s essentially like a futuristic sports anime with really high stakes. Think Galactik Football meets Slam Dunk. It channels that inspiration well using bold colors to bring the world to vibrant life. That contrasts with how most of the plot takes place on the ground of an impoverished area in dull shades of brown. However, there are hints that future volumes will take place in much more fantastical locations. This art style is immensely suited to intense action and complex, jaw-dropping visuals. I have no doubt that Bash! will take off into the stars, giving Rudy a much grander journey than he anticipated.

Aside from brilliant art, the graphic novel also features an interesting plot full of creativity. It functions well as an origin story for Rudy. But it does have some flaws. It focuses heavily on exposition; info-dumping the events of the past and the setting’s functions rather than allowing them to organically emerge. This feels like an attempt to condense the backstory into one volume so future volumes can focus more on the action. There’s nothing really wrong with this method of storytelling. For me, it just feels much less natural and demonstrates the artificiality of the world. It helps that the story makes it clear that this volume serves as a beginning rather than the full product. The overuse of exposition might cause a much larger issue if the entire story is packed into just this one volume.

While Bash! focuses heavily on Atlas, Rudy clearly stars as the central character. At its core, this story is about a protagonist trying to carve his own mark in the world. The grandiose planning and large-scale consequences fade into the background behind Rudy’s intense drive to become a Bash player. However, the shadow of his father looms over him. Firstly, in the form of his mother’s attempts to dissuade him from his goals. Then later on, when Altas’s friend encourages him. While Rudy is a distinct character, it seems like he’ll eventually have to face a reckoning with his dad’s past. It’ll be interesting to see where the story goes; he can either reject his father in favor of forging his own path, or embrace his legacy.

It’s all so ambiguous as of right now. But regardless of how it might turn out in the end, Bash! is a fun ride from start to finish.