The best sci-fi is a reflection of the world we live in.
Especially if the reflection is unsettling.
Or horrifying.
With Wynter Guy Hasson and Aron Elekes have created a world which mixes overpopulation, teenage angst and an internal Facebook-like A.I. with explosive effects.
Here’s the set up.
Liz Wynter is a disaffected 17 year old.
She wants to feel special, unique, like an individual.
But
Her DNA has been born into millions of people before and after her.
Everything she could think, say or do has been predicted and recorded.
And most annoyingly.
There’s an A.I. in her head also called Liz.
Spewing statistics like
‘I AM SPECIAL’ 200 BIL + HAD SAME THOUGHT IN LAST 30 SECONDS
WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW WHO THEY ARE
No wonder she’s ready to commit any petty infraction to feel unique.
But things soon escalate when Liz and her friend Shane get hold of an iSTEAL app.
Swiping apps from passersby they end up with something called ‘Subversive’.
That sparks a thought in Liz’s mind.
Perhaps I could do something unique, life-changing and explosive after all?
The first issue of this digital comic is available from New worlds Comics and issue two will be released on May 06 2014.
Art work you can grab hold of
I love comics that take as much care over the art as the writing.
After all this is a visual medium.
This story is perfectly illustrated by Aron Elekes tactile, lush artwork.
All the way through we get the kind of graphic art you normally only see on the chapter pages in most comics.
It’s realistic without taking away from the dark otherness of a dystopian future world.
Flesh seems real, pain is a visceral expression on characters’ faces.
Deep shadows are full of foreboding.
If you love comics as much for the art as the words you’ll love this.
Another great thing about this comic is that it passes the Bechdel test.
A standard invented for films to see if they have a gender bias.
The test is amazingly simple.
Are there two women who have a conversation together about anything other than a man?
Amazingly high numbers of films, TV Shows and comics fail this test.
I love that Wynter bucks this trend.
And does so in a natural, unforced way.
Although in their Manfesto New Worlds Comics state:
“Women are heroes. In New World Comics, most (not all) of our titles will have women as the protagonists. If you think women can’t be heroes (super- or otherwise), look out the window. Female secondary characters, even in titles that have men as protagonists, will also be real women.”
It is in no way at the expense of good storytelling.
Which after all is what the very best comics are about.
ComicOpa! 