Cyborg Aphrodite IX is caught up in a war between a race of humans that have genetically modified themselves to a huge degree and a race of humans that have maintained their genetic purity but augmented themselves with robotics after the world has all but ended. Only a small band of the planet around the Equator is still habitable, and these two factions squabble and fight over every scrap of land and go to war over imagined slights. After being woken from suspended animation by the genetic guys, Aphrodite joins their ranks.
Aphrodite IX is not just any cyborg, though; she is specifically engineered to be the perfect assassin as well as the perfect seductress. While this is a little too convenient, she also has the most inconvenient weakness. Her handler, who was revived by and is working with the robot guys, has the ability to highjack her and make her kill high value targets with no memory of the time. This is the chief concern of this issue, as Aphrodite has been welcomed into the highest echelon of the Na’vi genetic army and has been secretly killing some high value targets.
I don’t know if you caught that subtle clue, but there are a lot of similarities to Avatar. It’s not a bad thing, because Aphrodite IX is doing some interesting things and definitely isn’t just recycling the plot to Disney’s Pocahontas. Don’t get me wrong. I hated Avatar, but I am enjoying Aphrodite IX a great deal so far. The point is that when telling the story of a technologically advanced group of humans fighting a biologically advanced group of humans who ride dragons, don’t let James Cameron tell the story. Because it is an awesome story. This comic felt like it was Avatar should have been.
Another comparison that a lazy writer might make to Cameron’s boondoggle is in the incredible visuals. The art in Aphrodite IX is frighteningly realistic. I caught myself stopping to check and see if I could actually see a single brush stroke. I did find one, but remain unconvinced. I think that Stjepan Sejic is photographing the actual apocalypse. Seriously, this is the most impressively, realistic art I have ever seen in a comic book. Ever.
Aphrodite IX is a well-told comic that is illustrated by a man who must have made a deal with some shadowy demon. I think that anybody who is in the market for an entertaining book about the end of the world could do far worse than this one. It is a fun story about a cyborg spy in the future with dragons. It is also very well done and worth checking out.
Four Dragon Airlifts out of Five
