Zenescope Presents: Sci-Fi & Fantasy Illustrated #2 (Zenescope – Cox / Spay / Balke)
Double-sized issue! In the near future murder has become the most popular sport. Still illegal, it is broadcast on underground networks with an intense cult following. A female viewer with an uncertain past finds herself pulled into the game. As she struggles to survive the networks most popular serial killer the secrets to her past are revealed with a shocking twist you won’t believe.
I finally got around to reading the newest issue of Zenescope’s sci-fi pulp digest and was pleasantly surprised. Not that issue #1 was bad, it wasn’t at all… but it was like HBO’s classic Tales From the Crypt, it was a heavy mix of great suspense and gorgeous eye-candy but not necessarily the deepest plot or setting. With issue #2 (Red-Banned), writer Tim Cox takes it up a notch with a short story that is filled with testosterone and makes you think… I don’t say this lightly, but this is easily comparable to Blade Runner.
So, on top of a great sci-fi story dealing with violence in entertainment, clones with planted memories and societal values associated with sexual stereotypes, you have the work of uber-talented Zene-artist Anthony Spay. Spay brings the setting and action to life with a bold, straight-forward look that will get him noticed. And while this book isn’t filled with some of the standard stills and splashs (delightfully droolistic) that are normally accompanied in a Zene-book, it certainly is a great balance of gratuitous eye-candy and detail relating to the story.
The Bottom Line: Red-Banned proves you can have thoughtful sci-fi accompanied by a definitive hot factor!
Grade: A
ThePullbox Warning: Given that a chunk of this story happens inside a futuristic sex-industry, this is a meaningful “Mature Audiences Only” feature.
