Even with its breakneck pace and mindbending ending, Memetic is an engaging read. While playing with some familiar tropes to genre, Tynion and Donovan’s modern spin and interesting characters make it one of the freshest apocalypse stories to come around in recent memory. Just don’t fall prey to that well-crafted sloth.
One of the mainstays of the Bravest Warriors comics and cartoons is the Holo-John. It’s a private room in the Bravest Warriors’ hideout where you can enjoy a fun simulation of your choosing while going to the bathroom. It’s like the Holodeck in Star Trek: TNG’s immature, yet creative cousin. Bravest Warriors: Tales from the Holo John is a special one-shot set entirely in this wonderful little room and shows its storytelling potential. The stories have their funny moments, bizarre bits (I will never unsee Mad Rupert’s drawing of Wallow in his undies.), and the best ones explore the relationship between the Bravest Warriors and various characters, including Beth’s dad, Pickle Chips, and the Holo John himself in a more metaphysical tale from Ryan Ferrier (D4VE) and Jorge Corona (Goners).
You are reading this review on a laptop, smartphone, tablet… some sort of personal computing device. How did you get here? What else is dancing, pulsing on the outer rim of this review and where will you click to next? How long have you been at it, staring at this screen in front of you? We live in a world overrun with social-networking, buzzfeeds, text messages, viral videos. Earlier today I received one of those “have you seeeen the [insert trending pic/vid/etc*]?” Commonplace in 2014, but James Tynion IV and Eryk Donovan’s new limited series Memetic serves up a somewhat cautionary tale on the new normal.