EUGENIC

When a pandemic threatens to eradicate humans, a brilliant geneticist has an insidious idea to save humanity.

In 2037, millions have fallen to the lethal Mississippi Delta Virus until Dr. Cyrus Crane, a 33-year-old doctor with a full-color tattoo sleeve and a hot pink streak in his hair, develops a vaccine with a 100 percent success rate. As the immunizations are administered globally, recipients discover that their offspring are born with asymmetrical faces and an entirely new spectrum of skin colors. The narrative bounds ahead centuries to a time in which humans and the new species of beings (who self-identify as NuMans) grapple with their new reality. This third volume in the loosely-related Apocalypse series is an excellent read for fans of dark sci-fi like Black Mirror or those seeking more inclusive science-fiction graphic novels (all of the main characters in Tynion’s installments are queer). Donovan (Quantum Teens Are Go, 2018, etc.) and Cunniffe’s (Redneck #14, 2018, etc.) full-color, cinematically styled rendering of NuMans is delightfully sinister, depicting each with a different asymmetrical face; particularly striking is an image of a politician with a disquieting grin that bisects his face. Tynion’s (Justice League, 2018, etc.) worldbuilding is gritty and violent, ratcheting up intriguing concepts of social aesthetics and mores until they are deeply and provocatively malevolent.

This edgy and thought-provoking graphic novel is sure to both enthrall and unsettle.