XenoGeist #1 is a comic written by Scott Wilke & Mike Tener with illustrations by Cari Salviejo and colors by CF Lum. Agent Monet goes after xenografts while in pursuit of the Surgeon. This is a futuristic science fiction cyberpunk comic that centers on the enforcement of cybernetic enhancements with significant drama, strong violence, erotic moments, and detective work. The leading lady here is Izzy Monet, she is a CLEA(Cybernetic Law Enforcement Authority) agent who likes working alone, getting her hands dirty, and she appears to have a habit of breaking protocol. Her immediate superior is Captain Javier Marquez. This story begins with Izzy recounting her most recent case where she engaged in vehicular pursuit of a suspect on the Autobahn 10. She jumps onto the suspect’s vehicle and damages it, this results in it flipping over and landing in a fiery heap. This takes place in a futuristic world with flying cars, augments, and objects made of hard light. The violence here features gruesome attacks that lead to heavy gore. This moves at a generally steady pace with a few faster action-filled sections. The tone here is that of a cyberpunk detective drama. There are many violent moments blended with drama and there is an erotic segment as well. The dialogue is very conversational with constant back-and-forth and cop talk. There aren’t any word-heavy pages here. This is a thrilling opening issue that throws us into the middle of a volatile story with a dangerous and urgent case that could have a greater impact than any of these characters think.

            The art here is drawn in a smoothly detailed modern style with a strong focus on lighting and shading. The color palette here is very sci-fi with cool blue, grey, and silver tones and neon green as an accent. There isn’t any natural scenery which isn’t out of the ordinary for a cyberpunk. Some of the different locations shown include a highway with a car chase, a couple clubs, a lab, and other more general parts of the city of New Dresden. Backgrounds here usually show the actual surroundings from the bright, cold, and concrete, though on occasion it’ll just be a gradient color. The expression level here is low as the characters can seem unfeeling with little to no reaction. We will see some happiness(mostly sinister) and a bit of shock mixed with fear. Faces have an above average amount of detail with a focus on the eyes and most if not all of the expressions are clear. The high-tech abilities tend to shine a bright neon green or neon light blue. Most of the violence here is delivered physically(with extra power via augments) with brutal attacks leading to gruesome moments and heavy gore as well as some blood. The action scenes flow well with a large amount of panels, impact moments, and a wide variety of angles. Though most of the characters here are fully clothed and dressed like it’s at least cool outside Izzy is wearing booty shorts and what is essentially a sports bra.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes, if this is up your alley.

“Would I like this?”

If you like futuristic science fiction cyberpunk stories that star a female government agent in pursuit of dangerous criminals with heavy violence, detective work, sexual situations, and a bit of drama then this is for you.

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

NC-17. Violence, blood, gruesomeness, gore, nudity, sexual scenes.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“I thought I was better prepared.”

 

Physical Link: https://badbugmidnight.com/products/xenogeist-1-cover-b-dravacus-variant-1?variant=46851995599069

Digital Link: https://badbugmidnight.com/products/xenogeist-1-digital?variant=46851939172573

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/badbugmedia/xenogeist-1/description

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

Probably Contains Spoilers

*
*
*
*
*

Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 32

Violent Pages: 9, for 28% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 7, for 22% 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 – 5

“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 – 2

“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 – 5

“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.”