The Dark is the latest comic series from AAM Markosia. The Dark is a four part comic series written by Chris Lynch with artwork by Rick Lundeen. The Dark #1 will be released in August of this year as a 24 page digital comic book, available via iTunes, with three more issues in the pipeline, to be followed by a TPB collection later in the year.

I recently posted the full press release for The Dark, as well as the Youtube trailer for issue #1. AAM Markosia were kind enough to provide me with an advance copy of issue #1 of The Dark, which I have taken a long time getting to, but it is *finally* reviewed below:

The Dark is the story of Daniel Abbot, a brilliant young scientist on the fringes of the establishment who creates a new technology, which he calls Memetech. Memetech enables the user to encode information and memories into a liquid form, allowing this distilled data to be absorbed into the system either orally or intravenously. However, Abbot realises that in the wrong hands his invention could also wreak great havoc, and so decides to keep his discovery to himself, revealing it to no-one, other than his wife, with whom he decides to share one last perfect Memetech fantasy…

The main story opens two years after Abbot’s invention of Memetech. Our protagonist is sitting at the bedside of his wife Kate, who is laying in a hospital bed in a deep comatose state. Abbot seems to be feeling guilt over is wife’s current condition, and as he sits there he tells her of his suspicions that the Memetech formula has been stolen by someone who wants to use it for nefarious purposes, possibility military applications. His reverie is interrupted by his wife’s nurse, and he takes his leave, embarking into the the dark stormy night. As Abbot departs the hospital he begins talking to someone called Howard, on a hands free set. He is concerned about the water proofing something called “The Baffler”, which he intends to take out in the rainy weather. Howard, it later transpires, is an artificial intelligence nicknamed Howard Hughes, and “The Baffler” is a coat made of Memetech, that gives Abbot the edge over his enemies.

The next scene opens with Abbot falling backwards though a skylight into a large distribution warehouse. He is dressed in a long black flowing coat with a glowing yellow symbol emblazoned on the chest. As Abbot falls headfirst into wooden packing crates his internal monologue informs us of the many technological enhancements that his coat, ‘The Baffler’, contains. For example, every time his body sustains an impact The Baffler floods his body with pain killers and adrenaline before the pain has a chance to set in. The Baffler also seems to contain several hidden blades and other weapons, which he can control with his mind, additionally it also seems to afford him some level of invisibility. We also find out that The Baffler has injected him with Memetech formula containing the distilled knowledge of all the world’s most deadly martial arts. He puts all of these skills to work in combating several henchmen who set upon him as soon as he recovers from his fall. Once all of the henchmen are dispensed with, the head goon comes after him, a behemoth of a man, who seems unable to feel pain of any sort. With no other recourse, Abbot is forced to resort to Memetech, and instills several Memetech filled flechettes with the complete works of Sylvia Plath, which he launches into the goon’s monstrous chest. Overcome with immense depression from Plath’s bleak poetry the goon dies almost instantaneously.

Once Abbot has disposed of all of his attackers we find out the reason why he is in this warehouse in the first place. It seems that a bomb has been set in the building, and an anonymous tip has been left specifically with the police detective that half the underworld knows is Abbot’s informant. All signs indicate that someone wanted Abbot specifically to find this bomb, and as he begins disarming it the mystery begins to deepen, as he discovers that the bomb contains Memetech technology…

The crime scene investigation leads Detective Milton, Abbot’s informant, to a popular city nightclub, where it transpires that they have been using Memetech to convert their employees into mindless, physically enhanced, killers. Milton calls in Abbot to investigate what is going on inside the club, and what he discovers is that his former associate Byron has been selling Memetech as a recreational drug, allowing people to experience their wildest fantasies and dreams. But even this is only the tip of the iceberg, as Abbot discovers that Byron has a master, a mysterious enemy who plots to set off Memetech bombs across the whole of the city, filling the air with liquid information and creating a new society of his own devising, The Dark is plunged into a desperate race against time….

The concept of The Dark is a highly original one. The idea that information can be condensed down into its purest form and then be absorbed physically is quite evocative. In principle such technology would change the world in rather fundamental ways. Imagine for instance that a Doctor performing intricate surgery would be able to take a shot of Memetech that contained the knowledge of of the world’s greatest surgeons, along with perfect nerve reflexes. The amount of successful surgical operations would reach unprecedented levels. Lynch takes this idea to its logical conclusion, which is that with information so easily available, it devalues traditional learning, and the power offered by Memetech usage becomes open to abuse. The idea of people getting high on information, and indeed overdosing nf data is rather cool, and there is definitely a strange metaphor in there somewhere. The idea of Memetech, and Abbot’s other toys such as ‘The Baffler’ are obviously comic book science, but they are comic book science of the highest order, and Chris Lynch has clearly put a lot of thought into the technology used by The Dark.

The Dark Issue #1 is a strong debut  issue, serving as a great primer to the world of the story, and firmly introducing the reader to the technologies, concepts, and key characters in the story. At the end of the issue we are let with several lingering questions that set up the future issues, such as how Abbot’s wife and son ended up in a coma, how did the Memetech idea get stolen, and who is this mysterious enemy and what is his grand plan. I will definitely be coming back to find out the answers to these questions! My one criticism of the story is that quite a lot of vital information is actually relayed to the reader in the introductory blurb before the actual comic part of the story starts. It is here that we are introduced to ‘The Baffler’ and several other plot points. I would have preferred to see this information integrated in to the story proper, but Lynch only has four 24 page issues to work with here, so I can understand why it had to be done.

The artwork on the book by Rick Lundeen is really quite impressive, and he deftly handles all of the strange technologies that Chris Lynch has him deign for the comic, as well as drawing lots of really impressive action sequences. Lundeen also does some really nice digital colouring on these pages that make the art come to life and look incredibly vibrant and fresh.

The Dark #1 is a comic that I enjoyed immensely. I give it my highest recommendation, and urge readers to buy it as soon as it becomes available. I shall try to keep interested readers informed as to when the first issue is released, so watch this space!

Rating:

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