Autogenesis: The supposed development of living organisms from inanimate matter.  That’s the premise behind this new series from Stasis Comics, whose prologue issue I was lucky enough to be able to take a look at.  In a world where ‘autogenes’ can harness the power of nature, Gaia (the fabled gatekeeper of the autogenes) and her aide Isaiah identify criminal autogenes and track them down, giving them one last chance to repent before being ‘returned to the earth’.

As set-ups go, it’s an extremely intriguing one, and we find ourselves introduced to our main protagonists in fairly rapid succession right from the very beginning.  Writer Leonie Bostock has a clear grasp of dramatic storytelling, and while her dialogue is filled with a grandeur that may feel out of place in a lot of other comic books, it fits perfectly in a book that has such an epic scope as this one.

Artist Amrit Birdi also clearly seems to have a flair for the dramatic, displaying the swirling sand dunes and devastating forces of nature beautifully, while not allowing the effects to overwhelm her tremendously detailed, highly emotive characters.  The colour work is also perfectly suited to the locale, with the entire prologue tinted in the yellows and oranges of the desert.

The actual story is delivered slowly, with the reader being drip-fed just enough information to keep them thirsty for more.   Not a lot of the larger world is being revealed just yet, but we’re given just enough of a peek behind the curtain to make us instantly interested in the larger tale that waits to be told.

If the intention of a prologue issue is to make the reader want to find out more about a comic, then Autogenesis #0 most definitely does its job.  Taken in isolation it serves merely as a snapshot, providing far more questions than answers, but with the groundwork already been laid by virtue of the strong visual and written storytelling, it definitely did enough to suck me in and make me want to see ‘=what happens next.

Definitely worth a look when the first issue is released on September 27th, and if the payoff turns out to be as polished as the set-up, we could be looking at something pretty special here.

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You can learn more about Stasis Comics on their website, and check out a sneak peak at this prologue issue here.  You can also purchase the full #0 and pre-order #1 ahead of its September 27th release here.

You can also find out more about the Writer and Artist on their individual websites.

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the writer of this piece was:

Craig Neilson aka (CEEJ)
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