CTRL+Z #1 is a comic written by Chris Moses with art by Riccardo Cecchi and colors by Marcos Martins. Cyberscape is under frequent attack from the “lowees” and the sentries must put a stop to it. This is a science fiction and cyberpunk blend comic that takes place entirely in cyberspace with two different leads. The leading lady here is Eidolon, a sentry who is trying to investigate some disappearances. Her partner is Argos and he has some personal beef with a woman named the Admin. The story begins with these sentries chasing down some lowees who are editing code and causing destruction. There is a bigger issue at hand that we won’t get the full grasp of. This takes place in a virtual world where code can be edited, travel is much different, and classism is still a thing. There are themes of fighting against the powers that be as well as doing what is morally right. The action here isn’t bloody or gory but limbs do get separated. The pacing is slower than average due to the fact that the plot can confuse so you’ll end up rereading some parts. The intensity is high overall and the tone is serious. The dialogue can have some technical jargon and you might get lost in some of the conversations. No wordy pages here. This is debut comic that sets the scene for a tale about a virtual space that retains some real world problems.

            The art here is very detailed and has a late 90’s-early 2000’s look to it. This comic uses the sci-fi palette with silver and grays but the most prominent one is a light blue that has that electric feel. Most of the scenery is tall buildings in either the current modern style or something more high-tech. The location is always moving but goes to alleyways, the tops of buildings, and cyberspace environments with grey walls and blue lines. The backgrounds aren’t always present in the smaller panels with gradient colors and action lines being much more common. The expression level is around average with a lot of stoic characters. Most of the emotions here are angry with the body being the main source of getting these emotions across. Some of these faces are human while other look like very robotic and pieced together. Some of the people here have cybernetic enhancements. The effects are very noticeable with a lot of the more virtual things floating in the air and seeming alive. The violence here is explosive and has lasers and tends to cause dismemberment. The action scenes aren’t too long and you shouldn’t get lost following the fights.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes, but you’ll have to focus to get the gist.

“Would I like this?”

If you science fiction and cyberpunk stories involving virtual worlds and crime with themes of classism and what’s truly right with violence and mystery then this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Violence, virtual gore, sexual scenes,

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Who taught you to do that? Your friends?”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1967380671/ctrl-z-1-2/description

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 24

Violent Pages: 8, for 33% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 3, for 13% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 3

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 4

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 3

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 3

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”