Review: The Hunchback of Theological Quadrant 19
In an abandoned cathedral, many centuries from now, a mechanical sexton attends to his dreary daily tasks. The empty, ruined city below has long forgotten the sound of the ringing of the bells. One morning, as the caretaker makes his pre-programmed rounds, he encounters something most unexpected.
This story is part of the Water Wars 2288 universe. Following a devastating coronal mass ejection from the sun, 80% of the world's water is now contaminated with radiation. Multinational corporations employ militias to guard over the remaining reserves of clean water... and to fight over them...
It gets worse. The radiation has also caused insects to mutate into giant, carnivorous monstrosities. Not only that, there is also an alliance of thinking machines calling themselves the Robocracy which is also waging its own war against all humans.
Basically what you have here is all your dystopias coming at once...
This issue contains three separate stories: the title story, in which a robot sexton goes searching for water for the flowers in the garden of his cathedral, only to find an injured dog amongst the ruins of the city outside. He adopts it and nurses it back to health, but danger lurks nearby to threaten this new companionship of machine and animal... danger of the human kind...
In Natural Life an exterminator is called out on a Code 9 emergency: a very large and dangerous mutated insect has invaded a woman's home and needs to be eradicated. All in a day's work, except that this guy just got a Dear John letter and his head is not really in the game...
Engines of Carnage follows a platoon of human soldiers battling robots. The odds are not good, but: "Among the corpse-strewn future battlefields there are men of courage, and men of courage survive and become something greater than themselves. Transformed, if you will by the bitter trials of cybernetic battle from the basest of common alloys into brilliant, unyielding steel."
Writer Timothy Fling has created a disturbing, chilling but also darkly humorous world in which these dramas play out. Artist Erwin J Arroza brings it all to life with some truly outstanding images, painted with lifelike clarity and creating strongly atmospheric scenes. His style is on the old school, retro side of cool, so lovers of nostalgia will be particularly delighted. Every panel is a mini masterpiece.
There are many more titles available from this team, who have created a richly detailed universe of interrelated stories set in their dazzling post-apocalyptic setting. Prepare to be entertained, blown away, even ... transformed, if you will...
The Hunchback of Theological Quadrant 19 from Earth Dog Studios
Zak Webber
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