Legend of Sumeria Review
Legend of Sumeria boasts a hard science narrative and a storytelling technique worthy of its own televised series or movie franchise. Biju Parekkadan brings a science background that pairs well with Jay Webb’s own sense of storytelling.
Webb and Parekkadan imagine a world where you must be scanned in order to buy a cup of coffee or pick your kids up from school. This world has gotten out of hand with genetic testing and a superior DNA strain invented by one of the protagonists, Dr. Bruce Abbot. Bruce has become disillusioned with the world he helped progress. Developments include mobile blood transfusions, synthetic diseases, and flu-be-gone pills. In an effort to make amends for his wrongs, Bruce goes on a journey of redemption.
DNA has become the new currency and half the population is floundering in the wind with inferior DNA strands while others refuse to be coded and tracked by the government. Left to their own devices, some of these outlier citizens have become rogue medical doctors who perform surgeries on the ill repute all in the name of keeping humanity safe from a government that wants them on sequence or dead.
Webb and Parekkadan utilize the great space race as a catalyst for mankind to look to the stars for their future. Astronaut Tessa Jones spearheads this mission as part of NASA’s plan to help humanity remain in the midst of a genetic uprising. Jones makes an incredible discovery only to come home and find the drama of a government conspiracy, a tribal cult, and an unruly romantic life.
The story moves back and forth between the people who want to make a change to the current “gene status” and the people who want to monopolize their power, with Tessa and Bruce being at the forefront of this ensemble. They’re each fighting a machine that wishes them dead, which might happen anyway if the world continues its downward trek to self-destruction. There needs to be a harmonious constant that does not stem from one’s genetic code. It’s almost as if this genetic uprising happened to kill off part of humanity in the first place. I guess we’ll find that out if another volume is released. With all of the work that went into this volume, I have no problem waiting for the second.
Legend of Sumeria is a page-turner worthy of recognition for its real-world application and the lesson-aimed story that accompanies it.
Be sure to check out my exclusive interview with co-creator Biju Parekkadan.