Virgin Comics has been making a rather impressive impact on the comic book market. With titles such as Dave Stewart’s Zombie Broadway, Ed Burns’ Dock Walloper and even a re-invention of the classic UK series Dan Dare there seems to be no limit to the ‘new kid on the block’ publisher. In an extension of their star power-infused comics, a new series is on its way from Marc Guggenheim (creator of the TV series Eli Stone) and Hugh ‘Wolverine’ Jackman.
There is an interesting article on Comicbookresources.com focusing on the sci-fi comic book series depicting a future world where privacy is swapped for security.
The always candid Guggenheim said the secrecy surrounding the project is very much by design, but did shed a little more light on the book’s direction. “It’s basically a science fiction book, set in the far future and it deals, essentially, with the Patriot Act on steroids, but in a totally surprising way. It’s one thing to say ‘the Patriot Act on steroids,’ but you have to know the kind of steroids we are talking about here.
“They really completely upend any notion of personal privacy that you might have. One of things we all initially talked about was how the best science fiction had things to say about today. By telling stories about the future, we are telling stories about the here and now. And obviously, in the wake of 9/11, we all, as Americans, have a choice to make, in terms of our security versus our personal privacy and where do you strike that balance. It’s obviously something a lot of politicians, and judges and lawyers and citizens and patriots have debated. Not just after 9/11 but before 9/11. I think we have a chance to say something interesting and new about the topic. Plus we have a really cool, very kick-ass science fiction story to tell.”
Guggenheim continued, “It’s actually a very human-oriented book. That’s what’s really great about it. There are different kinds of science fiction. There is science fiction like ‘Alien,’ like ‘Star Wars,’ where aliens and extraterrestrials or paranormal stuff co-exists with the world and then there’s stuff like ‘Firefly’ and ‘Blade Runner’ where the concept is more, even though it’s science fiction, it’s more grounded in the human drama. And this is very much a human drama. I won’t promise a complete lack of cool science fiction sensibilities, but it’s always going to be channeled through real human, flesh and blood characters. Not aliens and robots and such.”
