Eric Stephenson &
Nate Bellegarde “Nowhere Men volume 1: Fates Worse Than Death” (Image, 2013)
Remember when science was treated as the cause of some
terrifying problem? In the 1950s that
seemed to be a popular trope. Think of
all the giant insects, men turned into flys, etc etc. All of that was because of unchecked science
and a certain amount of hubris.
It seems that we are starting to see a return of that
view. First Manhattan Project and now Nowhere
Men; we have scientists whose boldness exceeds their ability to foresee the
consequences of their actions. And
consequences that we cannot easily escape.
Nowhere Men gives
us a world where seemingly scientists are treated the way that rock stars were
back when it meant something to be a rock star.
The obvious comparison is to the Beatles. There’s the fact that there are four of
them. The suits with skinny ties, the
mop tops. Even the mock fanzine pages
included in the text gives the impression that they are teen idols. Of course there’s the inevitable breakup,
although Yoko has not yet revealed herself (in these first six issues).
Most of these issues seem to be setting up a future
story. We learn about the world and
about the World Corp. But any overall
storylines are still in the beginning stages.
Nate Bellegarde’s art is clean and modern. The intertextual inserts (mock fanzine pages,
etc) are clever and provide needed background and world building in a manner
that is fun for the reader. The
occasional horrific elements are handled well, showing a range that hopefully
will be used more in future issues.
My only complaint about this first volume is that the story
is still too embryonic. I want to know
more. Oh well, perhaps I’ll just reread
this volume.
No comments:
Post a Comment