“So the fate of the world rests in the hands of the maniac who decided to end it with a weird picture of a sloth.”
Storied Arcs is back with another great season as Mike and Alex get ready to talk about the end of the world three times over. First up is part one of James Tynion IV and Eryk Donovan’s Apocalyptic Trilogy from Boom Studios, Memetic (issues #1-3). The guys dive right into the story, discussing how plausible it would be for the world to end on a weaponized meme if such a thing were real (spoiler alert- very), and how prescient the story feels knowing it was first published back in 2014. They talk about how our relationship with technology, specifically social media, has changed and evolved since the release of Memetic and how that could color your reading of it. Then the guys examine the ending and take a look at how the choices the characters make reflect back on the story’s overall exploration of humanity’s struggle between individualism and tribalism. They also delve into some of the issues they have with the comic. Not so much the story, which they both enjoyed, but more with the mechanics of the storytelling. But not to worry, we’ve got Good Times Sloth to cheer us up! Praise him!
As we mentioned last week, we’re going to be covering this thematic trilogy in publication order, so up next is Cognetic (issues #1-3). Find it wherever you get your comics (local shop, library, etc.) and join us back here next week to discuss how the world ends for a second time!