Here's the first Five Comics entry of the year! I'm going to try and do more of these compared to last year covering all sorts of themes beyond the obviously topical, and they will not come at the expense of my current manga excursion. THE THEME: Yes, we're doing another one of these. Listen, I've done plenty of these already; I don't need to explain what this theme is about. THE COMICS: 20XX #1 Publisher: Image Comics Writers: Jonathan Luna, Lauren Keely Artist: Jonathan Luna Mer's life appears to be going quite well until she's infected with the Bethel virus, which extremely few people survive. She ends up being those lucky few, but the infection turns her into what's called a sym, a being with telekinetic control over specific objects. Syms deal with serious discrimination in this society, and not knowing what to do, Mer seeks out her cousin (who is a sym himself, and a part of a gang at that). In the process, she meets a new friend and discovers the material she can manipulate in rather bloody fashion. It's an interesting new spin on the classic "depicting the struggles of a minority group in a sci-fi/fantasy setting" narrative (with this one mirroring aspects of the stigma surrounding AIDS/HIV-positive people), and that along with the great black-and-white art makes me want to read more. BLACK CLOUD #1 Publisher: Image Comics Writers: Jason Latour, Ivan Brandon Artist: Greg Hinkle This first issue is rather vague on the details given the protagonist's dramatic narration, but the basic idea is that there are two worlds (our world and what I'd call the world of dreams/stories), and the main character can move between them. It seems she's chosen to live in our world instead (she's now homeless, but I guess she prefers this to the alternative), but she's able to take other people into the "dream" world (where she is apparently unwelcome) in order to steal from them. It all seems interesting on paper, but I couldn't really follow much from this issue alone. FAIRLADY #1 Publisher: Image Comics Writer: Brian Schirmer Artist: Claudia Balboni In this fantasy world, Jenner Faulds is a Fairlady, which is a sort of private investigator. Here, she and her pal track down a woman on the run after apparently stealing money, but it appears there's more to the story than just petty theft. Color me intrigued. MCMKXXV #1 Publisher: Image Comics Writer: Joe Casey Artist: Ian Macewan Pamela Evans seems like your typical New York City cabbie at first glance, but her night shift reveals she's anything but ordinary. It turns out that Manhattan's full of monsters, and with her magical tire iron, she might be one of the very few equipped to fight such forces of darkness. Not much in the way of world-building in this first issue, but I find the premise entertaining already. SELF/MADE #1 Publisher: Image Comics Writer: Mat Groom Artist: Eduardo Ferigato The kingdom of Arcadia is under siege as the evil Teronak looks to claim a power known as the Final Contradiction. Looking to avenge her people, Amala teams up with Prince Brycemere in order to stop the villain from enacting her plan. As the adventure progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that things are not quite what they seem, and it culminates in quite the twist that reveals the true nature of the world Amala finds herself in. I'm quite curious as to where the story goes after seeing all that play out. As I've probably mentioned before, this particular theme isn't challenging to put together, but it is the ease in which I can find modern comics that fit said theme (and the overall implication of that fact in terms of representation in comics) that satisfies me. The added fun of pulling from the Image well in terms of the common publisher is that I'm almost always guaranteed to encounter stories I've never heard of, and that's very much the case again today. PANEL OF THE WEEK: - end -
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