Pretty much every time you encounter the end of the world in media, there’s nothing fun about it. Sure, there might be tongue-in-cheek elements like the anachronistic music and 50’s design of the Fallout universe. Still, those are usually window dressing to the depressing shell of what society used to be. But what if the thing that created the apocalypse was just our unbridled imagination? The ability to get whatever you want? How would that look? In “Eight Billion Genies” #1, we get a chance to explore a new kind of apocalypse, one caused by unbridled hedonism.
Written by Charles SouleCover by Ryan Browne
Illustrated by Ryan Browne
Colored by Ryan Browne
Lettered by Chris CrankIf you had one wish…what would you wish for? Now, what if everyone else had one wish too? That’s EIGHT BILLION GENIES, the new eight-issue series from CHARLES SOULE & RYAN BROWNE (CURSE WORDS). At exactly the same moment, everyone on earth gets a genie and one wish. All hell breaks loose, in a very entertaining way…and that’s just the beginning. Buckle in for the wildest ride of the year!
“Eight Billion Genies” #1 is the return of the creative team behind ‘Curse Words,’ Charles Soule and Ryan Browne, and the premiere issue is a reminder of how well these two creative talents work together. “Eight Billion Genies” #1 is honestly a simple premise. After the birth of the eight billionth human, everyone gets one genie. However, there’s one catch instead of three wishes; everyone on Earth just gets a singular wish. What follows is Soule and Browne getting to play in the utter chaos of a world where indeed, anything is possible. In just a few short pages, Browne gets to draw castles, cowboys on dinosaurs, superheroes, and mechas (just to name a few.) It’s a visual feast, capturing all of the kinetic energy and chaos of the magic fights they brought to the world of ‘Curse Words.’ It’s the kind of visuals that expect from a book where the basic premise is that anyone can have anything they want. But the thing is, these visuals help to highlight something a bit darker. With so much unbridled chaos, the world feels more like an apocalypse than a paradise.
It takes a minute for the magic to begin in “Eight Billion Genies” #1. Instead, Soule takes his time building up a small cast of characters. You have a band getting ready for a gig at the local dive bar, a pair of lost Chinese tourists searching for the Lamplight Tavern, a boy collecting his drunk dad, and a bartender who, throughout the issue, continues to surprise with his varied font of knowledge. As always, Soule is a master at creating a rich tapestry for each of these characters in a short amount of time. You quickly learn of the band’s struggles, Mr. Williams’ soft spot for Robbie, and the frustration of being a stranger in a strange land with no way to communicate with others. While it initially feels a little unmoored, sitting with this seeming group of strangers for close to a third of the issue, once the genies arrive, the pieces start to fall into place once the genies arrive. This is Soule building the pressure cooker for a unique apocalypse story.
When you first read the premise, the apocalypse isn’t necessarily the genre that springs to mind. How could having whatever your heart desires produce anything other than a world of fun? But when the wish hits the fan, everything begins to make sense. In those colorful and vibrant pages of a world getting whatever it wants, you see just what the unintended consequences of no limits can create. Dinosaurs eating people, jets crashing into people who wished to fly, angsty teens killing their parents. It all happens so quickly and chaotically that it all begins to click. When you only care about your heart’s desire, you fail to think about others. But in the Lampwick, Mr. Williams has created a safe zone, perhaps the only safe zone in the world, where the wishes of others can’t impact those in his bar. Now this group of disconnected strangers needs to work together. In a way, it feels like the setup of a zombie movie. But by the end of “Eight Billion Genies” #1, the pressure is already there, and the bonds are starting to break. What’s worse, there are six wishes left in the group.
Continued belowAgain, it bears repeating how well Soule and Browne complement one another, excelling at adding magic to the mundane. One of the things that makes “Eight Billion Genies” #1 stand out is how Browne portrays the Genies themselves. There is something whimsical and cherubic about their designs. They are borderline cartoonish, with their simple lines and chibi representation of who their human is. But Browne’s after-effects filling them in with all the galaxy’s vastness makes them borderline terrifying. They feel similar to Kyubey from the anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica. They are cute, but something is unsettling about them. Combined with Chris Crank’s reverse colored lettering, you feel that they might be up to no good. Browne’s art also excels at capturing the emotion of his characters. They all feel so incredibly human, which helps the wild magic surging through the world more impactful. Everyone is on the same page with this comic, and the execution is beyond compare.
“Eight Billion Genies” #1 doesn’t reveal too much, and hopefully, it will keep us in the dark the entire time. It doesn’t matter how the Genies came to Earth. What matters is that they are creating chaos (and that there are still plenty of wishes left after the chaos of the first eight minutes.) It’ll be interesting to see if there are rules, all good magic needs at least some rules, but that’s about it. As it stands, the series is off to a stellar start as the chaos continues to spread.
Final Verdict: 9.0 “Eight Billion Genies” #1 is the perfect blend of delightful and destructive, a magnificent start to magical mischief.
