The quiet smokey street view of downtown is interrupted by the ambient acid jazz of a saxophone breaking the tension of a dark and seedy underbelly of crime and corruption. At its nature, that’s exactly what this place is. It’s a neatly layered crime noir filled with mobsters, alcoholic detectives, a dive bar’s floorboards that are forever sticky from spilling 20 year old whiskey the night before, a corrupt senator and the classic femme fatale.
You hear a bottle break, smashing into a million pieces on the street corner, the saxophone continues playing off in the distance, a fight breaks out and then it’s quiet again. You’re drawn deeper into the world of Morgan Rosenblum, Matthew Medney, Pete Russo and Johnny Handler’s Remnant. Published by Hero Projects.
A Future Layered with Greed, Corruption, Sex and Alcohol
What happens when you mix the eras of the roaring 40s and a world absolutely polluted with future tech? A decadent world. A future layered with greed, corruption, sex and alcohol. A world where class is all but quashed and what’s left is simple the haves and the have nots.
Comic book writers Morgan Rosenblum and Matthew Medney introduce us to a truly savage world. A world living in the shadow of a war that took out many people the characters knew and loved (much like what World War I did way back when).
Here we are introduced to a world that relies on servantile robots to fulfil the basic needs of humans while an investigative reporter does his best to circumnavigate a conspiracy that digs into the very heart and soul of a technologically futuristic backward world. A world where the robots can and just might be taking over by snatching humans off the street and replacing them with robots wearing human skin.
There’s a definite feeling of Blade Runner minus all the flying cars, cyberpunk genesis and monologues of fear induced existentialism. Still, the nihilistic traits are felt throughout this entire first volume while the paranoia of popular intellectual properties like Invasion of the Body Snatchers seems to creep its way in. A fear akin to pre-Cold War paranoia. Where abduction and the fear of the Red Ruski’s coming to town to spread their seed of unfiltered communism was a terrifying agenda. A world taught to trust the warm embrace of capitalism and patriotism at all costs.
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Remnant is oozing with Debaucherous Appeal
Interestingly, when Remnant kicks off, the year is 2449, and features a world seemingly ravaged by the war of technology on self from decades prior. A world which went so deep into the artificial intelligence and virtual reality realm that it came out the other side needing a hard reset as it returned back to its fundamental core values. A world which went deep into its own self loathing, deprecation and selfishness as image and beauty became the forefront. Sound like any world you’re familiar of?
As Investigative Reporter Abel Kane works his way through the case, we’re constantly dragged unwillingly along. Treated to a decadently feverish post-war world, thanks to the otherworldly talents of illustrator Fabrizio Ugolini and despondent film noir influenced inkers Onofrio Orlando and Salvatore Di Marco.
There’s your usual film noir tropes peaking around at every corner. The mob looking to put out a hit on the protagonist (Abel Kane), the beautifully alluring and seductive femme fatale who hires him, the shady businessman (or senator, in the case of this story) and the familiar friend who’s determined to help as much as possible. Too much, if you catch my drift.
As the mystery behind Remnant unfolds there’s little additives that appear during the story as old timey advertisements which turn out more clues and hints to the ending of this sordid tale of sex, lies and robot tape. The big trade off is the ending which has Matthew Medney written all over it. The type of trade off which is sinister in its appeal and very They Live in the approach.
Remnant, the kind of graphic novel that will take you back and forward in time to witness what just might be around the corner for the human race. If the human race continues screwing around with technology in the same manner we have these last few years. It’s a robot takeover that is a slow, smokey burn and oozing with debaucherous appeal.
What did you think of Remnant?
What did you think of Remnant? Have you picked it up yet?
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