In today's age of technology, we all like to be connected to our devices, whether it's at work, at home, or even in our cars. But what if this connectivity was something we had from birth? This is the starting point of Symmetry, written by Matt Hawkins and illustrated by Raffaele Ienco.
Symmetry tells a story very similar to Brave New World, in which the world's population is kept heavily medicated and connected to their AI system at all times. The people are also a homogenous society, even to the point that all races are kept completely separate. When disaster strikes and disconnects a small segment of people from their AI system, a man named Michael discovers Maricela, the first black woman he's ever seen. The two fall in love while working together to survive the new terrors of life without AI assistance. Meanwhile, the administrators of this 'utopia' race to rebuild their society under the guidance of a mysterious AI whose ultimate aims are unknown.
Co-creator Raffaele Ienco illustrates this book with clean lines and sharp colours, but the main attraction here is the storytelling of Matt Hawkins. While it starts out simple enough, there are a lot of complex ideas under the surface here. Symmetry deals with ideas of segregation, morality, and our relationship with technology. While I personally was hoping for something a little more complex, it appears that Symmetry's story does unfold further in following chapters. Hawkins and Ienco have mixed elements from sources like Brave New World, The Matrix, and the long-term thinking of Frank Herbert's Dune novels to deliver an interesting take on the sci-fi dystopia genre. Go check it out for yourself today at The Gauntlet Comics and Games!
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