Dark Age vol 1: Dominion back

Before we begin, caveat emptor: the pre-story pages are printed on black and if publishers aren't careful that can destabilise the binding glue at the spine. Such is the case here.

Kicking off with the cover, it's a snazzy affair with an embossed silver logo. Inside the opening credit section too is startlingly designed with yet more silver, black and yellow anti-trespassing stripes, biological hazard signs and I think this pair may well have read Hickman's NIGHTLY NEWS. There's a lot of scene-setting, a map and keys… in fact it reads a bit like a console game's introductory sequence but typed too tiny for comfort.

"Knowledge and tech is everything! That's why we, The Corp, banned it."
"Remember, The Enforcers are your only protection. They maintain order and keep our civilisation safe."
"Please note: we, The Corp, have exiled all undesirable humanity to the slums, to protect our civilization."

Consider yourselves brought up to speed.

I did like the opening sequence with its burnished birds and spiralling galaxy, but then it lands on terra firma with a thud and although I appreciated the firelight colouring it immediately devolves into a cliché-ridden dystopian future with revolutionary gang members posturing laboriously on (and on) and angry Corp Colonels SHOUTING AT EACH OTHER endlessly. It's so noisy even without all the side-captions and so very, very slow. I confess I gave up halfway through, defeated by the lack of any significant progress.