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Eugenic #2 picks up hundreds of years after Dr. Cyrus Crane mutated humanity in his perverse attempt at improving it. It starts in a city called Pariah Nine were natural humans, those whose ancestors were impervious to the genetic changes, are forced to live.

At the age of 21, the humans are taken to the Central Genetic Authority where they are tested to determine their future use, which involves breeding them for entertainment, sports, or to be pets. The humans are fed a consistent diet of propaganda about how great this opportunity is, but an organization within the humans is developing a plan to reveal what’s really happening and start a rebellion.

This story by James Tynion IV is a humdinger. It’s dark and pretty depressing with some serious grotesqueness worthy of modern horror movies. But it also has the thread of hope found in most of the young adult dystopian stories that have been popular over the past decade. The first issue introduced some philosophical questions about the ugliness in the world, which continues, although to a lesser degree in the second issue.

As stated above, some of the art by Eryk Donovan and colors by Dee Cunniffe are grotesque – which is the point. They are doing a great job of presenting the story with its outlandish horror, albeit interesting premise. I’m very curious about how things will end for this miniseries in issue 3.

-Amanda Sheriff