Eric Garcia’s new comic is a near-future sci-fi tale about the dangers of a security state and excessive hyphens. This issue is the origin story for the conflict to come. We are introduced to Golden Shield, the aspiring surveillance company that will help stop crimes as they are occurring. There is a problem with the system, though; the evaluation software isn’t accurate enough for the scale of the project. I won’t spoil anything for you, but the solution to this problem looks like it will be the source of the tension for the foreseeable future.

This comic has something to say about the notion of privacy versus security and the privatization of the police, but it isn’t heavy handed about it. The story here focuses on a person at the heart of the issue. Ben Fisher is a programmer for Golden Shield who finds himself in an unusual situation after [spoiler omitted] and must deal with the consequences.

The political aspect of this comic is interesting, but the real strengths are in the world building and characters. The characters all seem realistic and well thought out. The sci-fi is grounded in technology that is just a few years out, so the world feels very real. The implications of these characters in this situation are fascinating, and I can’t wait to see where this leads.

Overall, this is a good start to what I believe will be a cool series. I suspect that things will start going horribly wrong somehow, but I think I am going to enjoy seeing where this one goes.

Four Totally Not Ominous Invasive Surgeries out of Five