W0rldtr33 #1 Review

 

Writer: James Tynion IV

Artist: Fernando Blanco

Colorist: Jordie Bellaire

Letterer: Aditya Bidikar

Cover Artists: Fernando Blanco; David Aja; Jenny Frison; Bill Sienkiewicz; Zu Orzu; Alvaro Martinez Bueno

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: April 26, 2023

 

A naked, tattooed blonde reaches into a computer case. Ignoring a dead man on the floor, she sits on the bed and opens a laptop. She watches a video of a young man using his cell phone to distract an older couple as he kills them. What new world is the young man speaking of, and why does the naked woman smile as she watches him? Let's jump into W0rldtr33 #1 and find out!

 

Story

Ellison and his girlfriend Fausta drive along a narrow mountain road. She urges him to keep his mind on the twisting asphalt ribbon and not look at him so much as they talk. He's worried about his brother Gibson’s internet use. Both have watched videos designed to shock and provoke, but Ellison believes his brother is immersing himself in something that could ruin his life. Fausta teases Ellison, calling him and his brother Edgelords. But then she looks at what Gibson has posted on social media and realizes Ellison was right to worry.

 

Meanwhile, Gabriel watches TV in his sleek, modern apartment. A report on Gibson’s actions prompts Gabriel to contact people he hasn’t seen in years. Once they worked together as software developers. They created something called W0rldtr33. While it gave the team members nightmares, Gabriel believes it might now be humanity’s only hope.

 

 

 

 

Art

W0rldtr33 #1 begins with an audacious first page. It's divided into twelve panels. Each conveys essential information about this silent scene. They introduce the dead man, the woman who killed him, and show her setting down her gun as she digs through his computer bag. She seems emotionless, yet she closes the man's eyes before she accesses his computer. A subtle hint of the story yet to come is that one row of three panels shows a glaring layout irregularity. More pages with tiny panels follow. She watches an online video of someone approaching a house, killing an old gentleman on the front porch, then walking inside and killing his wife. Fernando Blanco packs each of these scenes with photographic realism.

 

Jordie Bellaire casts the first scene in a pink glow, suggesting a motel room. The laptop casts a green tint on the naked woman's features. The killer shows the couple his cell phone, which shoots red and blue across their faces. Although the woman's coloring makes her look like a cartoon character imposed on a faded photograph, the scarlet blood spilling from her—and her husband--is shocking. Ellison and Fausta’s conversations begin with a gorgeous shot of his Prius navigating a wooded mountain pass. The car’s orange paint glows almost too much. Inside, Ellison’s face looks washed out. Unlike him, Fausta’s face shows more color and realism. Sadly, most of these panels in this scene only show green windows, reminiscent of a film set, and the special effects crew forgot to draw in the background scenery. The topics discussed--and the lack of backgrounds--made me wonder if I wanted to read further.

 

Gray dominates Gabriel's apartment. His long white hair falls onto his dark striped shirt and dark pants. Outside his modern apartment, nearby buildings blend with the overcast sky. The only color in his world comes from his TV, computer monitors, and memory. After you finish reading W0rldtr33 #1, return the opening quote by Harlan Ellison. It may address some of Jordie's coloring choices, particularly the final scene's lighting.

 

 

 

 

As W0rldtr33 #1's story pursues disturbing themes, I appreciated Aditya Bidikar’s easy-to-read-and-follow lettering. Bold words suggested inflection. Uppercase letters inhabited spherical dialogue balloons. (The only exception is Gabriel's memory when dialogue balloons are yellow). Big white letters introduce each character's scenes. Bidikar’s sound effects help us hear the computer accessing the internet and the (somewhat) naked woman's rumbling motorcycle. Gunfire seems more stylized than intended to help us feel the sound of the gun reports and the bullets striking their victims.

 

Final Thoughts

W0rldtr33 #1 tackles the increasing intrusion of Artificial Intelligence and our desensitizing addiction to violent entertainment in a mature manner. Visually arresting and thought-provoking, fans of Blade Runner and Terminator movies, and readers who still revere Isaac Asimov and Harlan Ellison, should not miss this powerful debut.

 

Rating 9.7/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Mark Hamill, the Parisian Movie Critic & Harlan Ellison

 

26 year old Mark Hamill

 

In an interview in Starlog #21, published in April 1979, a young Mark Hamill recounts a conversation with a Parisian movie critic.

Reporter: "Not only did I find Star Wars vapid and unimaginative, but I found it downright frightening in its mystical-religious, crypto-fascist, bargain-basement dogma."

Mark Hamill: "I bet you can't say that three times fast."

 

 

The interviewer suggests that the critic who irked Mark Hamill the most was noted science fiction author Harlan Ellison. It seems the famous author argued that Star Wars represented the triumph of technology over content, and of special effects over a "people" story, to the ultimate detriment of both science fiction and literature.

According to Hamill, Ellison also wrote, "Luke Skywalker is a nerd, and Darth Vader sucks runny eggs."

Mark Hamill's response?

"I saw him on a talk show in Canada and I thought he was like a game show host. He's like the Don Rickles of science fiction."

Hey, no knocking the late Don Rickles, Mark! He was cool!

Dragon Dave

P.S. Want to read the entire interview? Here's the Link:

Starlog #21 Mark Hamill Interview

When All Hope Seems Lost

In Robert Silverberg’s classic short story “Road to Nightfall,” Paul Katterson has just learned that today’s food dole will be his last.  New York City is devastated, and escape from the city is impossible.  A decades-long world war has reduced the city to rubble, and the United States has been partitioned into a dozen strips of land.  Each area is isolated from the rest by radioactive wastelands.  Boats patrol the waters surrounding Manhattan, killing all who attempt to flee the city.  Yet Paul refuses to give up on humanity.


When a man tries to enlist him in his hunting parties, Paul rejects the offer, knowing what type of “meat” the man’s people actually hunt.  But he and his girlfriend are hungry.  She sees the employment offer as necessary: don’t they want to survive, to start a family?  Paul wonders at her irresponsibility: how can she desire to bring children into this world?  When she gives in to the only type of food available, he runs away from her.  But what are his options?  Everyone has given up: now there are only the hunters and the hunted.


We all have principles we care about, and goals we would like to achieve.  We are moral beings, and fight for causes we believe in.  What happens when those around us stop believing that the goals we desire are achievable, and become obstacles to the causes we feel so strongly about?  No person is an island; we cannot define as “evil” that which all of society has redefined as “good.”  Without support of any kind, we must bend to the public will, abandon everything we have fought for, and become what everyone else would have us be. 


Or must we?  Can you look yourself in the mirror every day for the rest of your life if you cave in on what you care about?  Is life worth living if you abandon your principles and goals?  Is a meaningless existence really better than living according to your beliefs, even if everyone else seems to have rejected them (and in the process, rejected you)? 


Ironically, “Road to Nightfall” continued to be rejected by publishers long after Robert Silverberg became a published author.  But he held onto the story, and two years later, mentioned to his friend Harlan Ellison that he still had one story he had failed to sell.  Ellison read the story, loved it, and with his passionate support, “Road to Nightfall” was finally published, four years after he first began submitting it.


So where is your Harlan Ellison?  Perhaps he is out there now, and you just have to wait for life to bring him your way.  Please, for the sake of all you hold dear, hold on until someone comes along who will aid you in your fight.  For the world needs people who refuse to abandon their principles and will never give up on transforming their goals into a better reality for all of us.

Robert Silverberg’s story “Road to Nightfall” is included in Phases of the Moon: Six Decades of Masterpieces by the SFWA Grand Master.  The collection is available from the publisher ibooks, and can be found at www.ibooks.net.