Matt Hawkins: Sci-Fi done right.
For the first commentary of 2016 I thought I’d start with a work of creative fiction that is truly amazing. It’s not very often that a piece of writing can get under your skin and take you somewhere new and different with something you’re already familiar with. It’s no secret that I’ve been a Top Cow Comics fan for some time. Over the years I’ve been introduced to many characters and the thirteen mystical artifacts that their stories revolve around. With this company and its creators, these stories evolve and move to exciting new directions. One writer in particular has taken the universe into a bold and truly prodigious place.
Matt Hawkins isn’t new to the comic book industry. He’s been the President/COO of Top Cow since 1998. He’s had a hand in creating many characters and penned countless issues over that time. I recently commented on his work with Witchblade 185, an issue that he also wrote. Now, he’s brought something truly imaginative to the table, an Apocalyptic/Hard Science fiction epic that takes place over three titles: CyberForce: Rebirth, Aphrodite IX: Rebirth, and IXth Generation. It’s so hard to figure out where to start because so much of this story is intricately woven using current science and technology as a starting point to tell the story of one woman’s sinister quest for immortality that brings with it extraordinary implications and global consequences. That being said, I suppose I the best place to start would be at the beginning–with the least amount of spoilers that is.
Cyberforce: Rebirth issue one begins with an ominous tone on the first page where the main character says: “We’re going to die, all of us, the whole world…and I know when it happens.” In the near future, Carin Taylor leads us on a journey to find Morgan Stryker, a fugitive, that she believes will help her stop the end of the world. What follows are twelve issues of action packed adventure that unravels a tapestry of events connected together by characters strategically manipulated to bring about an unstoppable ending to the world as we know it with an event called The Aphrodite Protocol. The first arc of the mega-story caught me off guard because I had no idea where it was leading. I’ve always been used to the heroes saving the world in the final moments of a battle. Little did I know that this was just the beginning of a larger tale to be told.
Aphrodite IX: Rebirth takes us into a distant future as Aphrodite awakens after hundreds of years in stasis to find the world a much different place. There are various tribes of genetically enhanced humans locked in a centuries old battle with cybernetically enhanced humans. She gets entangled in their ways and gets caught in the crossfire. We learn this world along with her, meeting both sides and discovering where they came from. Everything is a result of The Aphrodite Protocol put in place centuries before. We are then led to the awaking of other’s like Aphrodite who were also placed in stasis as she was. They are all genetically advanced beings that are referred to as the IX’s whose purpose is to rule over the world and it’s inhabitants. They immortal are siblings who are to become gods.
In IXth Generation, the final part of the arc is by far the most exciting because we see the culmination of events that began in the pages of Cyberforce: Rebirth with the Aphrodite Protocol and what it all means. All of the siblings must deal with immortality and godhood while trying to get along with one another and the rules put in place for them. Where it gets really interesting is when the ancient artifacts that have been the center of this universe for so long make appearances disrupting their world. Utopia is not as easy as anyone planned when they have to battle outside forces as well as each other for ultimate dominion over the world.
Matt Hawkins must have spent an extraordinary amount of time crafting this tale. The intricacies of science and understanding are off the charts. I’ve read each story three times and still find new elements that I missed. This story is unlike anything I’ve read before which is why was drawn to it and gobbled it up. It’s definitely not something to be taken lightly or you may miss the hidden nuances within each page. It’s something that has inspired me and made me look at the extent that a writer will go to when creating mythology.
Leave a Reply