Memetic


By James Tynion IV & Eryk Donovan (Boom Entertainment)
ISBN: 978-1-60886-743-1

Even people who love to be scared can get a bit jaded. Terror tales come in many forms and formats, from Sophisticated Suspense to J-Horror to no-holds-barred graphic splatter and torture-porn, but at the heart of them all is the power to connect with an audience and make them nervously wonder. Thankfully, thus far creators are keeping just ahead of consumers and still seem able to enact new notions with great style and captivating facility whenever we need a little extra anxiety in our lives…

Embracing all the old adages whilst thinking far outside the box, in 2014 writer James Tynion IV (The Eighth Seal, Batman Eternal) partnered with old associate Eryk Donovan (The House in the Wall), colourist Adam Guzowski and letterer Steve Wands to put a fresh, clever and thoroughly post-modern spin on the overused doomsday scenario of the Zombie Apocalypse with 3-issue miniseries Memetic.

If you need a little definition here: A meme is an idea that starts with individual, spreads to many and potentially is taken up by entire communities or societies, like not eating yellow snow, washing behind the ears or voting for the worst possible candidate in any given election…

Aaron Sumner had a bad start in life but simply persevered. Despite the congenital illness which messed up his eyes and left him needing hearing aids and daily medication, he made friends, worked hard and now leads a relatively normal life at Jefferson State College.

He even had a boyfriend until recently, but was totally unprepared for the role he was about to play in the last act of humanity…

Aaron is still fretting about recently gone-but-not-forgotten beloved Ryan Nowak, and petulantly surfing the web when someone forwards an image that promises to “change everything”…

Intrigued, he opens the file and agrees that it’s a pretty picture, unaware that he is one of the few humans on the planet immune to its secret power…

Everybody else who sees the image is immediately besotted and cannot stop looking at it, but baffled Aaron soon tires of not getting it and goes to sleep. He’s woken up by best friend Sarah Bentley who totally feels the tingle of friendly companionship the picture generates. Together they reason that it’s Aaron’s medical deficits which are preventing him from sharing the togetherness.

In mere hours the image has gone beyond viral. It has been copied and pasted on walls and even made it onto regular news channels. Nobody can grasp just why it has such a feelgood factor, but it looks like before the day is over everybody on Earth will be sharing the joy…

That’s disturbing news for Marcus Shaw. The former military specialist was one of the Pentagon’s biggest military brains until macular degeneration rendered him practically sightless, and the effect he hears of on the news and from speaking to his increasingly distracted friends reminds him of an old project proposed by Weird Science specialist Dr. Barbara Xiang.

When he contacts his old bosses he quickly realises it’s too late. Someone has succeeded where they failed and created a weaponised Meme…

All over the world progress pauses as people see the picture, disseminate the picture and perpetually stare at the picture.

Aaron is baffled and growing concerned. That turns to total terror when the second-stage kicks in. Twelve hours after initial exposure, the image addicts begin bleeding from the eyes and take to the streets in lemming-like mass marches. Screaming mindlessly, they surge through the streets ripping apart anyone not sharing their mindless union and converging in towering masses of melting flesh…

Elsewhere, last-ditch action is being taken. Dr. Xiang has managed to avoid seeing the image and linked up with Marcus. She knows full well the potential threat and wants him to lead a reconnaissance mission to find the originator of the meme and, if possible, create a counter-measure.

Aaron’s world is crumbling. Sarah stays with him until she starts to feel the scream building inside her, and even a last-minute reunion with Ryan is doomed to end badly…

Using now-abandoned government and military resources, Marcus and Xiang locate the origin point of the meme and a team heads off to confront their hidden enemy. They cannot help but speculate on who – or what – could have created such a complex thought weapon: one which is clearly evolving and forcing humanity into its final moments…

The answer, when it comes, is beyond anything they could possibly have imagined…

And Aaron ostracised, alone and again an outsider makes one final act of free will…

Engaging, engrossing, fearsomely believable and utterly compelling, Memetic also offers behind the scenes bonuses including sketches, model sheets, a feature showing the creative process from ‘Script to Page’, commentary and ‘Afterwords’ from author and artist, plus a cover and variants gallery by Donovan.

Unfolding at a frenetic pace – 72 hours from start to a doom-drenched finish – this a yarn to chill the hearts of blasé Generation Tech and the most timid of silver surfer alike: one you also will have extreme difficulty turning away from…
™ & © 2015 James Tynion IV. All rights reserved.