The Ministry Of Compliance #1 Advance Review: Your Next Sci-Fi Obsession Is Here

What is the Ministry of Compliance? That’s one of the mysteries at the heart of the new IDW title from writer John Ridley and artist Stefano Raffaele. But far from the only one…

We reviewed the book on the Stack podcast. But in the interest of highlighting more about the title, here’s a summary of the conversation with our thoughts. And if you prefer the longer audio version, that’s below as well!

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The Ministry Of Compliance #1 Review:

A lot of the first issue of the new series is all about figuring out just what is going on. We meet the head of the Ministry of Compliance, Avigail Senna, in the middle of a bloody sword fight. And from there, the onion slowly unravels to reveal way more about the world and its circumstances.

Host Alex Zalben compared the book to a mix between Greg Rucka and Michael Lark’s Lazarus, and the 2002 sci-fi movie Equilibrium. Explaining further, Zalben noted that the former is a “very complicated sci-fi world that has often boiled down to some cool ass action sequences throughout.” And the latter has some cool sword fights in a future setting.

Zalben continued, “There’s a big twist in the middle of the book that I absolutely did not see coming that changes everything.” (You can find out what the twist is for yourself in the synopsis below.)

Zalben lauded John Ridley for using the bits between the action sequences to loop in “politics… That are parallel to our world, and how we operate at the same time.” He also called out the art by Raffaele. “The characters are stunning to look at, absolutely gorgeous throughout,” while the fight scenes are “nauseating at points.” To be clear, that was a compliment.

Zalben added, “This is a book to definitely look out for when it comes out in November.”

Pete LePage thought Zalben took the words right out of his mouth, saying, “[I] love all the twists and turns, love the mystery of it all. Very sleek art. It’s got a great style to it and is violent as hell. This is just great. More, please.”

Finishing up, Zalben also pointed out the book has “a lot of tones… It’s funny. It’s dangerous. The twists are good. It’s also a spy [story] at the same time. Great book.”

The Ministry of Compliance #1 hits stores from IDW on November 15, 2023.

The Ministry Of Compliance #1 Official Synopsis:

Eisner Award-nominated comic book writer John Ridley (The Other History of the DC Universe, I Am Batman) delivers a bold, new vision of science fiction with THE MINISTRY OF COMPLIANCE.  Thirty-seven years ago, Earth was secretly invaded by an alien force known as the Devolution. They have been shaping the direction humanity has been going in ever since to prepare us to be assimilated into their empire.

The Devolution has thirteen ministries, each responsible for manipulating a different aspect of human life. The Ministry of Compliance, the most feared of all the ministries, led by the fierce Avigail Senna, makes sure all the ministries stay in line and remain focused on the Devolution’s mission. As it appears the Ministry’s mission is on the verge of being completed and Earth will be assimilated, things begin to go terribly wrong, and a conspiracy among the ministries breaks out that Avigail must deal with head-on.

The beginning of comics’ next sci-fi epic in this oversized debut issue from John Ridley and acclaimed artist Stefano Raffaele (The Joker, GCPD: The Blue Wall)!