Unlike Christopher Nolan’s new film, this prequel comic to “Inception” doesn’t go very far to explain all the rules established within dreams, so those of you without that frame of reference might be a bit lost. Really this is better to read after seeing the film for those interested in avoiding spoilers or wanting to read a comic that actually resolves the seemingly random allusions it makes.
Written by “Inception” co-producer Jordan Goldberg, “The Cobol Job” is a comic currently available free online that covers the period of time immediately before the opening heist scene in the film. Cobb and Arthur (played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the feature) are introduced already getting to work in a dream in which they are attempting to extract information from the chief engineer for Proclus Global, the company owned by Mr. Saito (portrayed in the film by Ken Watanabe). Joined by a group of toughs they label tourists (they aren’t idea thieving pros like our heroes) Cobb explodes into a building to squeeze precious information from the engineer’s brain. Learning the man’s subconscious does not contain the information they are after, and the new target becomes Saito himself, which puts us up to speed with the start of the film.
We are also given a few new characters not seen in the film, most significantly of which is Mr. Woodruff, the Cobol agent who hires Cobb and his team. Cobol is bidding on a job for the main competitor to Mr. Saito’s company, Fisher Morrow, which is the company Cobb is eventually tasked with weakening through the process of inception in the film by Mr. Saito himself. This is all basically explained briefly in the movie, but it was a great call excluding Cobol from the film itself as having this third party in the mix only makes things more confusing.
The comic artists make an effort to duplicate some of the more fantastical elements of dream realities but end up highlighting the absence of the powerful sound design and visual effects that Nolan’s team nailed in the film. The characters in the comic do stay true to the personalities represented in the movie and extend the main plotlines in chronology, though not in depth. The only fresh perspective on the characters is Cobb’s pre-existing distrust of the Architect, Nash (played by Lukas Haas). In a voice over, Cobb rightly expresses his wariness in working with Nash but shrugs it off with his whatever-it-takes attitude. The prevalent voice over in the comic also hints that maybe an earlier version of the film shared the device, especially as the style of straightforward dialogue and pacing matches the movie fairly closely.
If you’re going to take a look at the comic, we’d recommend using the arrows at the bottom of the window to progress through the frames instead of exploring with your mouse. The viewer glides over the frame with some thought put into emulating camera moves and makes for a more engaging read. Listen to some pieces pulled from the score to get yourself in the mood.