Two off-center and ambiguous sci-fi tales from the crazed minds of T.P. Louise and Ashley Wood kick off the new anthology series from Image Comics! Mild Spoilers Ahead
Cover by Jesse LonerganWritten by T.P. Louise & Ashley Wood
Illustrated, Colored & Lettered by Ashley WoodFrom the creative team of T.P. Louise (“Lore”) and Ashley Wood (“Zombies vs Robots”) comes a new sci-fi anthology series set in a world a bit like and unlike our very own. Issue one kicks off this new on-going series with two full length tales that are both down to Earth and bizarre in equal measure.
In the grand tradition of on-going sci-fi and cult magazine series like “2000 AD” or “Heavy Metal,” “7174AD” is here to shake things up and bring something new and funky to comic book stands. Written by Louise and Wood, with all artwork done by Wood, there is plenty of interesting ideas and concepts to get just about anyone on board with this premiere issue. Pulling from new and previously released works, “7174AD” looks to bring new readers to Louise and Wood’s careers and their twenty year partnership that has included joint efforts on comics, film, t.v. shows, novels, video games, and even toys. Some of these stories have never been released, or have not been released in print before.
The 48 page first issue gives us two stories “Duostar Racers” and “Miss and Mrs – Search for G.” The first follows the world of illegal robotic street races. It covers the underground garages where these racers must repair and upgrade their vehicles while hiding from the authorities. The races are over the top, explosive, and beyond energetic. While driven and maintained by humans, the vehicles are actually robots with their own minds and souls. The bots hash out their rivalries in these insane circuits throughout the city. The second story has the two titular characters come across a Nabler tomb. What is a Nabler? Who are Miss and Mrs? What is this all about? You’ll have to dive into this chaotic universe to find out. Whether or not you are a fan of these works, this issue is a perfect encapsulation of an adult comic. It is allowed to feel both poignant, silly, violent, and sexy all at once without reading like juvenile adventures or little more than shock value smut. And while they have been at it for over twenty years, Louise and Wood, are still bringing fresh and interesting material with their stories. And for those readers who never got their hands on their previous works, this is the perfect place to jump in.
There is no hand holding with these stories, you are either in or out on them. While some deep concepts and ideas get bandied about from page to page, there are few moments that the writers are looking to really make you over-think a heady idea. Somewhere between John Wagner and Harlan Ellison, this book wants you to re-read each story to ensure you pick up all the pieces, while also not putting so much deep thought into the ideas that it feels out of place with what Louise and Wood are going for. It is great to have women adding their voices to this kind of series. And while a lot of this series will, including issue one, pull from and re-release past works, it is great that they will be in front of more readers. Thankfully a publisher like Image Comics is willing to do something like this. There are endless insane sci-fi stories throughout the world of comics and it is safe to say most of them aren’t by women. Not because those women aren’t out there trying to get their stuff heard, but because even with more and more women making comics within the last few decades, it is still a man’s world.
Every page of this book had me intrigued and held my interest as I attempted to grasp everything that was being thrown at me, but I’d be lying if I said I loved every bit of it, or that I didn’t feel a bit disconnected from it at times. I can’t blame the book itself of myself completely for that, but the combination of some of the ambiguous writing and abstract art, two things I wholly love, didn’t always get its point across to me during my first pass.
That said, let’s talk about the artwork, also by Wood. I did love every page of this book because of her work. Living in a sketchbook space from start to finish, the energetic and loose renderings were all beautiful and met the vibes set forth by each story. Mostly done in black and white, with some shades of gray, or the occasional smattering of color, I love the raw nature of this work. City slums, pin-up girls, and decaying robots all get the same treatment. From top to bottom this is a gorgeous book and the art is really what held my attention with every turn of the page. So, while maybe not every bit of this issue completely spoke to me as I expected it to, I would still recommend it to anyone looking for something a little off the beaten path when it comes to modern sci-fi comics.
Final Verdict: 7.0, Keep comics weird, keep the ideas flowing, keep turning the page. “7174AD” continues the tradition of giving readers bizarre and off center sci-fi tales that are guaranteed to make readers think about what they are reading.
