
Humanoids 2019
Written by Devin Grayson
Illustrated by Alitha E. Martinez, Meredith Laxton & Chris Eliopoulos
Coloured by Bryan Valenza
Lettered by A Larger World Studios
A young doctor suddenly and mysteriously acquires superpowers... as do several other individuals on the planet. But only her power can answer why.. A gifted doctor with a vibrant, compassionate personality, Cecelia Cobbina received boundless praise from her peers and her patients. But that was before the incident in Africa. Before she was forced to leave her job at Doctors Without Borders behind... Before she gained the ability to think at superhuman speed. Overwhelmed with the power to answer every question, she must now overcome her own fears and tackle the one code she can't seem to break: the truth behind the Ignited.
I have missed Devin and the way she writes her stories so I am glad that she is here getting to really unleash her creativity with this series. The whole idea behind Cecelia and how she sees the world and how Devin manages to convey that to us is something I personally have been looking forward to seemingly since forever. That she makes both complicated and accessible to the reader is something to be applauded. I feel as if the intelligence behind what we see is done in ways that make sense to the story and go a long ways into keeping the story moving forward while constantly keeping the interest and intrigue factor incredibly high.
The story & plot development that we see here as the information it reveals has a very natural flow to it. We get bits and pieces here so that while we get a few answers they mostly lead to new questions and the cycle is something that keeps the reader coming back for more. The character development here is sensational and it continues to grow and evolve not only with each new person that Cecelia meets but anyone she interacts with them. Add in the pacing and we see just how amazing a character Cecelia is because it almost feels as if she's dictating the pace of the story. Though with everything together we see the revelations along with the twists and turns coming at us in some of the best and most unexpected of ways that just keep piling up the questions.
The interior artwork here is something to see. While the opening by Chris is a great thing to see the way that Alitha and Meredith work the interiors so that they make seem like one person did them and yet find a way to keep them in their style as well. It is quite the feat actually and the linework is sensational and works in ways that really bring the attention to detail to life. The way backgrounds are utilised not only enhance the moments but bring a great size and scope to the book. There's also some nice depth perception and scale as well. The colour work is nice to see and how the lights of the police car are done and the strobe effect it brings. The greens of the grass or blues in the sky have some absolutely lovely utilisation of the various hues and tones to within them.
There is a fantastic story happening here and while I' would love see Cecelia travel with more than just Mae the two have a wondrous working arrangement with each other. The dynamic as it stands is utterly marvellous and why mess with what works right? Still what Devin is doing here is almost like a living and breathing thing that is taking on a life of it's own. This is why humanoids is one of the new companies that is striving to make an impact on the industry and is making one hell of a statement while doing it. I love seeing them building this new universe from the ground up it has this excitement and freshness to it that excites the hell out of me.