Hard Wyred is on Kickstarter – check it out here
Set in the not-so-distant future, the internet has grown to the point where people now hook themselves up to it, and live out their lives without ever having to go back to the real world.
In this online world, we’ve created a world that depicts the future we have always imagined. Massively tall buildings that scratch at clouds, flying cars, amazingly quick transport. Sounds pretty great, huh? Well, one person doesn’t think so. And that would be our hero. Sam Wyerznowski.
Sam here, Sam was originally part of the creation of this online world. However, none of that matters to him now. Sam only wants to redeem himself in the eyes of his long term crush. Katie. Something that looks nigh impossible thanks to Sam’s previous interaction with her.
Not only that, but Sam has recently been on a leave of absence, or what some people are referring to as a “forced retirement.” This retirement was brought on by events completely in Sam’s control. And I mean completely.
Yet, when one of the research facilities of Sam’s previous employer, Ms. Teller, is attacked, she has no choice but to turn to the one person who can help her. That person was unfortunately unavailable, so now she is stuck with Sam. Can Sam shake off the rust in time to survive this whole ordeal? Will he get a shot to prove Katie his worth? Or is he about to discover the problem he’s stumbling into is much larger than he could have ever imagined? (Spoilers: it is!)
There’s one more chance to re-connect.
Issue #1 is an excellent introduction – flitting between the ‘now’ and the flashbacks of the past. We get a nice short and vague prologue, which sets us up for the reason for the story. Which we don’t get until later. Next up we get an introduction to our main character – Sam. Sam doesn’t look look the usual action hero, but of course, that is ‘real’ and we are looking at the virtual world.
Once Sam has been ‘convinced’ we get the set up to it all, and an excellent idea for introducing the ‘rules’ to this virtual world – all well told.
The art is excellent – the black and white and the tones work brilliantly with it all – and I especially like the action scenes. All really well drawn and perfectly paced.
This issue #1 works well as a build up to the main story and introducing us to the main characters and a vague hint at the threat.
On to #2…
Issue #2 initially makes us think that things are going well, but we discover there may be a problem for Sam. We don’t get the full story – and nor does Sam, but we do get a really good mystery. The flashbacks continue and the links between the ‘now’ and ‘then’ are making more sense. There is a lot of action going on here and this is more ‘real’ than the previous issue as there is real danger. We get some new players on the board – Big T, who seems a bit of lunk, but seems to follow orders and will probably cause problems. Meanwhile we also get viruses – which makes sense as we are in a computer (sort of).
The issue ends up with another mystery – linked to the flashbacks and makes me want to find out more!
Both issues are excellent with some really good hard sci-fi feelings to it all!
You can buy Hard Wyred #1 here
Check out my 10 Questions With Erik Bitmanis about digital comics here
