BOOM! Studios
(W) James Tynion IV (A) Eryk Donovan and Dee Cunniffe (L) Jim Campbell
With the color talents of Dee Cunniffe (Redneck), brilliant narration of James Tynion IV (Detective Comics), and inking skills of Eryk Donovan (Quantum Teens are Go), Eugenic #2 explores the idea of humans as the causation of their own downfall. The comic converts a lot of current issues and ideas into horrific science-fiction . While exaggerated, it is still truly terrifying.
The Mississippi Delta Virus had taken the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world. With reproduction for carriers consistently unsuccessful, a doctor developed a vaccine to end the virus and ensure…healthy births. He helped create a new generation out of his own form of love, but contributed to the downfall of humanity. Two hundred years later, the NuMans are the superior forms of life, and the humans are rising up to take back their livelihood.
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions” could not be a more perfect idiom to describe this comic. The complexity of motivation versus the ramifications of the conflict not only correlates to modern society, but it makes one hell of a compelling story. Doctor Cyrus Crane aimed for the termination of discrimination against race, sexuality, mental health, etc., by altering human DNA. Instead, he ended up making this new species bigger, stronger, and perversely intelligent. The NuMans have a superiority complex, and now determine if individual humans are worth a damn.
Following Memetic and Cognetic, Eugenic is the last installment of Tynion and Donovan’s Apocalyptic trilogy. With the first issue giving background and rising action, the second provides the climax where truths are revealed to both the characters and readers. We will see the aftermath and resolution in the next and final issue, which will also take place 200 years further into the future.
