Pariah #7
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The good
The no-name vitro laying out the requirements for space travel and all the possibilities
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The bad
Story developments make so much of what has occurred irrelevant. Other vitros are treated as novelties to create a choice between two characters I still don't like
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The ugly
- Total score
Pariah #7 opens with Hyde and Maudsley back on Earth with the former suffering from the effects of the virus that’s devastating the greater population. They’re looking for Maudsley’s friend, Hal, in order to get him to help them gain access to a lab where they can synthesize a greater quantity of the cure they created. Getting to the location is taking longer than they expected and Hyde is getting weaker from the virus with every moment that passes but they keep moving so they don’t get caught. However, Maudsley starts to get concerned when Hal doesn’t show up, and those in the area where he usually meets Hal are acting suspiciously when they arrive. And sure enough, Marinus agents are on the scene, and even though the two of them attempt to run, they have nowhere to go. Meanwhile, Lila is focusing all of her attention on leaving Earth’s orbit so they can find a new planet to call home, and she wants all vitros on the station to stop their current projects and give this priority. She’s introduced to a vitro who is considered to have OCD, even in the view of other vitros, in order to use his ability to keep track of all the details required for their space odyssey to be successful as well as suggest ideas. She’s impressed with him minutes after meeting him but he tells her that this undertaking won’t be easy. In addition to factoring in potential time dilation, they also have to figure out the best power source to use, and test their gravity drive. And that’s just the beginning. But with Hyde and Maudsley encountering hostility not long after arriving on Earth, do the vitros in the space station even have another option?
I have a love-hate relationship with this series, and even though the concept of a series about super intelligent humans would seem to be perfect for me to enjoy, it’s not perplexing why that’s the case. The start of this issue is indicative of that as Hyde and Maudsley make their way through the area with no explanation of Maudsley’s contact or why he would still continue to go to the dead drop considering the vitros’ situation. So even if you’ve been reading this series from the beginning you still won’t know whether or not the context of current events was established in a previous series. Another example is when the vitro who would serve as Lila’s right hand man for their space odyssey preparations is introduced, his name isn’t stated so he comes off as irrelevant, and so does his task. And it’s a shame considering I haven’t liked the characters the series chose to focus on, and it’s
SUMMARY
Pariah #7 fails to build up any meaningful excitement as the penultimate issue as the choice on one hand results in so much of this series becoming filler and the choice on the other hand has no serious support in comparison. Throughout this series I’ve wondered about the vitros in terms of whether or not they were meant to represent something new that offered tremendous possibilities due to their abilities. But the series has treated the majority of them as novelties, and unless you have an attachment to the characters from a previous series you won’t feel engrossed in the ultimate decision that has to be made.
Release Date: 8/26/14
Writer: Aron Warner, Philip Gelatt
Artist: Brett Weldele
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