People love to ponder what role they (and the human race itself) will play in the universe’s unfolding — and one of the most obvious ways to prove this is how often we write, tell and enjoy end of the world stories.
With the Independence Day sequel trailer just arriving it seems fitting BOOM! Studios caps off their latest three-part doomsday story, but is it good?
Cognetic #3 (of 3) (BOOM! Studios)
What if there was people out there, only a select few, who could take over minds, forming a collective controlled by them? What if when they did this it essentially killed you and erased you? That’s pretty horrific. Now what if we lived among them and one day one of these monsters decided to take over and there was nothing that could stop it?
Why does this book matter?
Writer James Tynion IV and artist Eryk Donovan are coming off a fantastic doomsday story called Memetic and although this one has similar themes, it’s also very different. Cognetic is a three part story so it’s easy to catch up and get the whole story read in one sitting.
Stop being a dick Annie!
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
Much like Memetic I didn’t have much hope for our characters, but really that’s the point as humanity’s downfall is a fantastic way to show us how frail we are and how futile it all is. This story like the previous only piles on the bad happenings and forces our heroes onto their knees. Before Cognetic reaches its conclusion we’re given another great flashback explaining what went wrong to allow one of these hive mind controlling humans to pop up and take over so quickly.
Thankfully there are answers to questions in this issue that I’ve had since the first page of the story. Among those answers is a touching story about our protagonist named Annie and her wish to convince the love of her life that everything makes sense and the world is not ending. There’s an interesting element about selfishness that Tynion touches on and it speaks to probably the worst problem humans have and the reason we destroy nearly everything in our grasp.
Ultimately the conclusion works because it suits the direction this story has been heading towards for some time now; it also harkens to a darkness everyone can fear but with a bit of a twist — it’s the void, but something more and possibly more frightening.
The art continues to work from the quieter moments of characters breaking down to skyscraper sized monsters made of people smashing each other. The muted colors also help set the tone and make this whole shebang feel dark and brooding.
It can’t be perfect can it?
Okay, the giants doing battle was a bit much and something you’d expect from Michael Bay. it’s downright comical that Annie and our villain go at it like this when ultimately it doesn’t matter at all. I’m not sure if it was even necessary outside of supplying some action to a dialogue heavy issue which made the whole thing pointless.
The short three issue arc also seems shortsighted in that these creatures who have lived for centuries aren’t explored. How did they not lose their minds? How did they keep on going? Are they godlike beyond their ability to form a hive of other people? These are questions that aren’t really part of the story, but crucial background that would be interesting to explore further.
Stop showboating giant monster made of people.
Is It Good?
A satisfying conclusion that brings on the darkness to a dawn that will never come. Chilling stuff.
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