Titan Comics 2016
Written by Alex Irvine
Illustrated by John Aggs
Coloured by Mat Lopes
Lettered by Rob Steen
With society still reeling from the Aug incident--the Illuminati-orchestrated event which caused millions of augmented individuals to mindlessly attack their ‘natural’ counterparts anti-aug sentiment is at an all-time global high. Augmentation is now viewed as a serious threat to humanity. In response, transhumans have been segregated from the rest of society and placed in slum like ghettos, an act many are calling ‘mechanical apartheid.’ Task Force 29--an interpol funded coalition, created to quash the rising tide of terrorist activity on both sides stands as the world’s main defence against total anarchy. In the city of Prague, where tension is especially high, Adam Jensen, an unwillingly-augmented freelance operative with unspoken ties to the Aug incident has joined Task Force 29 as it’s latest recruit. Striking from the air, he now begins his first mission in the field!
I’ve said it before i’ll say it again i’m not a gamer, well at least where video games are concerned so i’m not familiar with this franchise. This is brand new to me and after reading this first issue I can totally see how the game works and what it’s about but more importantly what Alex does here is introduce us to story and a world that’s easy to figure out while getting us involved in it. We get this annoying as all get out reporter with definite bias introduced and we meet Task Force 29 and get a good feel for it’s dynamic.
I’m really impressed with how you get the sense that Jensen is the outsider here and is determined to prove himself to his new teammates. While we don’t, yet, know why Miller has issues with Aug’s but it’s kind of obvious that with a new member he’s hesitant, as anyone would be, but it goes deeper. You get that from this and not just from the writing either but from the looks on his face and his body language it’s a lot more tense, rigid, than the others.
I don’t know what it is about the artists working on Titan books but there’s this great stuff happening. From the perspective given, the pages and panel layouts, backgrounds and attention to detail plus there’s this thing with the inking that I don’t know but it makes it stand out. Also just the way not only the scuzzy reporter comes across but Jensen’s cool, cold demeanor too there’s so many different looks and feelings coming off the characters it’s really very much amazingly done.
As far as first issue introductions go I think this one nailed it. We got a good look at the cast of characters, we we’re given a chance to get to know enough about each of them so that we’d like to see more. It was a good scenario with which to open with that gives us as readers a chance to see the team in action and set the stage for what they do. The characterization is wonderfully done, the mix of characters, including the reporter whose rants were infuriating but so what we see today, create a great sense of not who they are but the world they live in. I think that they’ve got a pretty blank slate to really flesh out a game world means there’s a good deal of leeway to really do some great work.
This is a great science fiction, action/adventure story and I look forward to seeing how this continues to grow and evolve.