Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

If you've read Johnny Mnemonic or Neuromancer, you'll recognize the name.  Corinne, the heroine of Empty Zone, is an ancestor of Molly: not quite the same, but in the same vein.   She kicks ass, she's troubled, and yet she gets up and does the best she has with the shitty life she's been given. 

There's something strong about these two women, and not just physically.   There's something strong about how grief comes to them, and they keep going despite their pain.  

I've loved Gibson, specifically Neuromancer, for a long, long time.   And I've been an Empty Zone fan since the first issue came out.   (This is a new story; I have the older ones, I collected them, and I was such a fan, I had a signed, limited edition of number one of the first series.)   The mini-series, and the follow up, were all in gritty black and white which completely fit the world Jason Alexander - no, not that one - has built.   The color covers were gorgeous, but there was something hard about the black and white illustrations that complimented everything perfectly. 

In fact, I was disappointed to see this was in color, but it was on sale for Cyber Monday on Comixology.   I was so hesitant about the color, that I held off on the one issue that wasn't on sale.   (I'll probably buy that when I blow through these issue.)

Because I didn't take into account how twisted color could be. 

Though, please understand, the styles used are quite different.   This is often times more fluid than anything in the original, from the interior art to the covers, either painted or done digitally.   (The interior art was all white page and black ink.)

This is a gorgeous, hardcore cyberpunk world, not quite the same as any other world, while it doesn't strike me as outrageously original.   (Molly Millions had fake eyes, and Corrine's lost her arm and had it replaced - although I believe that Ratz had an artificial arm in Neuromancer.)   Still, it's original enough that this world always charms me despite how horrible it is.

This makes me want to reread all the original issues.   I love this world so much, I got compilations that had a couple pages of this world in it.   So happy to see something new, so happy that the color art works, just happy in general.