Author Jeffrey
Morris and the artists at Future Dude unveil Parallel Man -- a
seven issue comic-book mini-series from ComiXology (and Diamond Comics) -- on
October 8th. The story arc is
titled “Invasion America” and involves an alternate, totalitarian version of
the U.S.A. that attempts to enslave and exploit our reality, here.
The
narrative commences with some historical explanation. In one alternate world,
America -- instead of inventing the atom bomb in the 1940s -- discovered the
technology to travel between parallel universes.
Many
alternate Earths have already been classified and conquered by these
imperialists, and the first issue shows readers Gamma 31, a strange alternate
Earth where giant mushrooms are the dominant life-form.
Another
alternate Earth, previously unclassified, is a world where the dinosaurs never
went extinct, and man never rose to dominance.
Some
of the best passages in the first issue involve the premise that our quantum
reality is next in line to be subjugated. Our Air Force One is attacked while
in flight, captured, and forced down in the “other” reality.
In
short order, President Obama is introduced to his “new leader,” an arrogant tyrant named Warren Cartwright. Our Commander-in-Chief is told in no
uncertain terms that he must surrender his world, or be destroyed. This passage of the story plays as gripping “what
if” thriller, and is handled with a crisp, compelling sense of verisimilitude.
The
remainder of the issue introduces our hero, Nick Morgan, and moves at
lightning-fast velocity as he attempts to unravel the mysteries of Cartwright’s
master plan: the Ascendancy.
The
art work and narrative approach in Parallel Man reminds me a lot of
early 1960s “can do” futurism, an era before our politics and our belief in
ourselves became so small. And with
dinosaurs, giant mushrooms, parallel universes, heroic secret agents, and
nefarious conspiracies, Parallel Man feels like an ingenious
mash-up of Land of the Lost, Land of the Giants, Star Trek, The X-Files
and Danger
Man. There's both a retro and futuristic feel to the whole enterprise, and Parallel Man moves with confidence, purpose and quite a bit of style.
I
look forward to issue number two, to see how the compelling story-line develops….
If parallel worlds are your thing, I'd recommend Charles Stross's Merchant Princes series for a probable, though grim outcome to this sort of thing.
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