Is it an alien invasion, if the invaders have already won? And is it an invasion at all if it comes from inside our own bodies? That’s the general premise of In Bloom #1 from BOOM! Studios, a wild new sci-fi thriller from writer Michel W. Conrad and art by John J. Pearson that might be the most original premise I’ve read since Image Comics’s The Beauty.
In the book, the biomes that live inside of our bodies, at some point, became self aware. They told humanity that we were destroying the world (I mean, we are), and took charge. Years later, the world has been changed, people love what’s called the Bloom, and everything is fine. Except, of course, it’s now. The book follows a detective who doesn’t want to “bloom” and partner as they look into mysterious deaths that seem to be Bloom related. Is it a resistance faction? Something else? And meanwhile, all may not be right at the facility that melts grandmas down to their skeletons with acid.
Pearson’s designs are the stand-out here, with no two Blooms looking the same. They range from Outer Limits style weirdness, to plant people straight out of Tuca & Bertie. And the eerie acceptance of the people is contrasted with our main character, a mysteriously heavily scarred detective. It’s a grounded world that (not to keep calling out properties from other media) feels like Blade Runner, but with plants instead of androids. And Pearson’s realistic style makes the things hat happen all that more disturbing.
On Conrad’s end, he’s created a world where the “villains” — i.e., the Bloom — are probably right. Our planet is dying, and humans are only speeding things along. If plants took over, would it be so bad? Even if they are melting our nation’s great grandmas? It’s a moral quandary that puts the plants as the baddies, but really, we’re the villains here. And if the story heads in the directions you might expect — our detectives discover a massive conspiracy that, when unfolded, changes the dynamic of power in the world — is that a good thing? Who wants to go back to what we currently see outside, with climate change wrecking our atmosphere and lives?
That’s the sort of science fiction dilemma that comics are made for. And BOOM! Studios new title is on the cusp of it, really presenting a scenario that is both plausible and implausible at the same time. Whatever they’re offering, don’t feed the plants. Unless maybe… Do?
In Bloom #1 Rating:
In Bloom #1 Official Synopsis:
43% of the cells within a healthy human body belong to something other than the human host. Microbiomes, invasive bacteria, fungal and viral agents, and something else, something… more.
When the BLOOM happened, humanity was changed forever, transformed by symbiotic fungal megasystems that infected their bodies.
Some affected people grew new body parts, some found their personalities changed in radical new ways, while others reported contact with some… other intelligence not their own.
In this revolutionary new world, Agent Spears finds herself investigating a series of mysterious murders, a chain of violence that leads her to a terrifying question on which the fate of every living being rests.
Visionary writer Michael Conrad (Wonder Woman, Bizarre Adventures) and Eisner Award-winning illustrator John J. Pearson (The Infernals) present a boundary-pushing science fiction saga evocative of The Last of Us, Blade Runner, and Annihilation.
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