Comics Crux

     

This October, Marvel isn’t the only publisher offering up new comic book series. A new series from Whilce Portacio, one of Image Comics’ founders, and Glen Brunswick begins, called Non-Humans.

When a NASA space probe brings an alien disease back to Earth, it gives inanimate objects the ability to come to life—that means walking, talking, speaking and thinking for themselves. This class of objects such as dolls, toys and mannequins are dubbed “Non-Humans.” The formerly inanimate objects take on some aspects of their owners’ personalities, which to me sounds like trouble. A fitting description from Image Comics was “Blade Runner meets Toy Story.”

“The toys are not only a new minority in our world, but because they come from us they are quite human—with all of the frailties, insecurities and desires we humans possess,” said writer Brunswick in an Image Comics press release. “And some of these creatures can be very dark—it’s a world filled with toys that envy us, want to be more like us, and are willing to kill us if they can’t get what they want. What could be better than that?”

If by “better” Brunswick means “terrifying,” I think he’s right. I’m one of those imaginative, paranoid people that doesn’t like mannequins or dolls that look too happy or wide-eyed. They always look like they’re watching and judging you. And I still haven’t quite convinced myself that they don’t come to life once in a while (I know I’m not alone in this.) Despite this irrational fear of mine (or perhaps because of it) I think Non-Humans sounds really interesting. Brunswick and Portacio take a concept that people are familiar with, from childhood playtime and/or horror movies. Apart from the storyline they take and how the art turns out, I’m interested to see if this comic alleviates my dumb fear or makes it worse. 

(Source: imagecomics.com)