Before we dive into this issue I would like to warn you there will be spoilers from Issues #1 and #2. So, if you haven’t read 1 and 2 please wait to read this review of Issue #3. With that being said, in Issue 1 we learned that MDV was a terrible virus that had a side effect of infertility. Many people were unable to successfully birth healthy babies. Dr. Cyrus Crane came up with a cure, but he took liberties with the genetics of those children. Dr. Crane wanted to create a better future for all humans so he bred out anything and everything that could make this new species different.
Issue #2 took place in Pittsburgh PA AKA Pariah City #9 100 years in the future from issue 1. The story followed Bekk, and she was preparing to take a test in order to move onto a better life. Human women are offered a chance to have children that will be raised by rich Numans. And, as an added bonus they get to leave the Pariah city and move into the Northern Reserve to live. But, Bekk was actually going undercover as one of the members of the Children of Samir to uncover what really happens with the Purebred Program.
In issue 3 we are even further into the future. The story follows a man named Cyrus Clayton. The tale takes us through what appears to be a typical day for a working Numan. Cyrus starts his day by listening to some awesome classic music in the form of beloved human band Queen. Two not quite human looking children come running when they hear Queen play. His neighbor is a bit annoyed because Cyrus has riled up their pets with the music. He has an interesting interaction with his neighbor from here that lets us know the current state of the human species. Cyrus explains there is no way the pets could be purebred humans. But his neighbor gets very vocal and goes on to explain that he paid handsomely for them and that the children are purebred with certificates and everything.
Read Sheena Fisher’s review of Eugenics #1.
Cyrus makes his way into work and we learn that he is a Museum director. He has a brief conversation with a co-worker named Reggie. Cyrus let Reggie borrow To Kill a Mockingbird. I was shocked by how much human pop culture was still around far after humans as we know them no longer exist. Don’t worry you will learn exactly why that’s the case if you read this issue. Reggie didn’t really understand the story and was more saddened by it than anything. This is where we learn how Cyrus was certain the neighbor’s humans were not purebred. Cyrus is the director of the Human Remembrance Projekt.
The Human Remembrance Projekt exists to show Numans where they came from. But, it seems that this part of the museum isn’t doing so well. Cyrus looks to be working this large exhibit completely solo. He starts up a projection of Samir Al-Bawali for any guests that may come in. You may recall that he was Dr. Cyrus Crane’s husband in issue #1. Samir explains why he believes his husband made a terrible decision by messing with human genetics. This is where you learn how and why the Children of Samir was formed.
As Samir is closing out his beautiful speech a young female numan makes her way into the exhibit. Cyrus asks her if she is lost, and she explains that another exhibit had a very long line, and that there was no line for his exhibit. He asks her if she would like to see the exhibit and he guides her through it. He explains that he is lucky to see five visitors a week. And, that he doesn’t see this exhibit existing much longer.
Read Sheena Fisher’s review of Eugenic #2.
The young girl tells him she lives only five blocks away and that her name is Mary. As Cyrus starts the tour Mary tells him what she has learned in school about the humans. Her teacher taught her that humans were always trying to kill each other. That we did nothing but come up with new forms of weapons to take each other out. She asks how you can tell the difference between humans because they all look the same. And, that she believes Numans are superior for these reasons. This sets Cyrus off because he has been studying humans his entire life and knows the story isn’t black and white. He thinks it’s important to know where Numans came from and to respect humans because they were intelligent beings.
That’s where I have to stop because I don’t want to give away any spoilers. This series has been eye-opening. I love that in issue 1 the story tackled things that we observe today. Dr. Crane wanted to make it to where all people had a fighting chance. So they weren’t denied basic human rights because of their skin color, a disability, their gender, or their sexuality. Dr. Crane only had good intent, but unfortunately he took it too far by totally re-writing the human species genetic code.
Issue 2 showed us that Dr. Crane’s creations were taking over politically. That the first Numan president was re-writing laws to favor Numans and exclude humans. Bekk wanted nothing more than to wake up other humans into seeing the truth and creating change. There was a little bit of a cliff hanger at the end. I should mention that while on the tour of the exhibit we do learn the overall impact her actions played for the remaining humans.
In this issue every question that you may have had where there were plot holes gets answered. Every action that we saw play out by the humans had the answer right in this exhibit. The unfortunate thing is that only Cyrus the museum director seems to care. I cannot stress enough as to how interesting and scary this all is because historically similar things have happened in our past. Look at World War I and II as prime examples. Even some things that are happening currently are mirrored in this series writing. I believe this series is written so superbly to blur the lines of what could be reality and what is obviously a horror fantasy. Of course I couldn’t tell you the exciting conclusion to this issue, but it is the most fitting conclusion in my opinion. I cannot praise this series enough.
Pick up Eugenic #3 at your local comic book store.
Rating: 9/10 Stars
