Comic Review: Kingdom: The Promised Land by Dan Abnett
The cleanup of the Laptop comic pdfs continues. This time, we turn to the Kingdom. Starting at book one (always a good idea), Promised Land. I've read a novel set in this universe before called Fiefdom, which is placed after these tales. I feel it has prepared me for what is to come. For those unaware of this 2000AD series, here is a quick rundown: The Earth has been invaded by weird insect-type creatures who love to kill humans. Knowing they are fighting a losing war, the humans create the Aux. The Aux is a humanoid Dog Soldier designed to keep humans alive. Now you are caught up, we can jump into the review.
Kingdom is a pretty straightforward tale. It introduces the characters and then turns into an all-action adventure about fighting and dying while the main character questions his role. For some reason, all the Aux are named after TV/movie/song personalities of the period in which they were created. The main character is Gene the Hackman, who leads his pack through the wilderness, ensuring the "Masters" are kept safe. We hear a few terms used a lot through this story: "Masters" stands for Humans and their creators, "Lawn" for the territory that surrounds the Masters, and "Them" for the invading insect creatures.
As the story progresses, the pack is weakened by the fighting and split in two when the Beta Aux challenges Gene's role as Alpha. Soon, Gene is alone and seriously confused after a random meeting with a Master. This ultimately causes Gene to go solo and wander further than any Aux has done before. During his adventures in the wild, Gene discovers a small human farming community managing to hold back the tide of bugs. Here, Gene meets Leezee Sower, a young girl who loves dogs. We then get a classic man and man's best friend bond building, and Gene joins the community.
It's all happy families until Gene discovers a dark truth, and soon, the safety of the farm isn't that safe at all. Gene is forced to fight once more for survival and seeks only to protect the young Leezee Sower.
It is an excellent story with some beautiful art; my only negative is how the Aux talks. It can be difficult to read (at least for me). But this is a classic Sci-fi tale told in a new and exciting way. I highly recommend it.
