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Evolution is a new series from Image Comics that has the sort of b-movie feel one would expect from a grindhouse double feature. There are monsters, religious connections, and a crazy scientist. There’s also a person close to the world of film. Oh, and a virus is aiming to take out humanity. A solid premise with many working pieces, the second issue aims to continue the success of the first.
So what’s it about?
The official summary reads:
Something is happening to humanity across the world. What ties together a college dropout in Santa Monica, a rogue doctor in Philadelphia, and a nun in the Vatican? The answer already lies dormant within you.
Why does this matter?
The first issue set up an interesting premise utilizing four writers (how does that work?) and a gritty art style, but it’s still the early stages of the virus, so get ready to see how humanity fights and/or falls!
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
A very cool first page.
This issue progresses the plot of the three main characters (a nun, a scientist, and a woman who has a special reel of film) and each piece gives the reader a little more info. By the end of the issue everything comes back around to the very first scene of the series, which helps remind us whatever is happening it’s not completely unknown to a select few. The writing team consisting of Joshua Williamson, James Asmus, Joseph Keatinge, and Christopher Sebela are doing a great job sprinkling in new details to get the reader’s imagination running. It’s one of those adventures where a mystery needs to be solved and only the reader can piece everything together before it’s too late. That makes the story a bit more compelling than simply a creature feature horror story.
The art continues to have a gritty style, not unlike watching an old VHS tape that has been played way too many times. The opening page offers an impressive layout with droplets serving as panels, drawing your eye down the page and eventually to a sink. If the virus ends up spreading through the reservoir, this layout did its job to convey that. Jordan Boyd’s colors help separate the different characters and their scenes well — the scientist has a lot of blues and sickly greens and Claire has a brighter look.
The concept of evolution is an interesting one here.
It can’t be perfect can it?
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Some may hate the term table setting, but that’s what you get here. There’s one scene that’ll raise your heart rate, but for the most part this issue is focused on characters listening in or listening to themselves. The scientist takes up the brunt of the issue and it’s focused on his captions as he walks around viewing the public. He’s certain some of these people are already turned and he discusses evolution and his mission. It’s hard to read this scene; it’s unclear if he’s playing the part of crazy scientist or if he’s actually correct in knowing some of these people have turned. It seems like we’re reading the ravings of a madman even if we’ve seen evidence he’s not.
Is It Good?
This is a slower paced issue, but it does offer new answers and progresses each of the stories well, even if it’s mostly table setting. This is turning out to be one of the most interesting mysteries in comics right now.
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