Singularity 7 by Ben Templesmith

by Ben Templesmith

Earth is forever changed one dark summer night when tiny alien machines known as nanites drift down from outer space. They transform a normal human into a god-like being known as the Singularity, who drives the remnants of humanity underground and to the brink of extinction. Now Earth's only hope lies in the hands of a rag-tag group of "Specials" - humans mysteriously immune to the nanites' destructive power. The odds are stacked against them, but will a defector from the other side grant them the edge they need to prevail?

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fiction, Cyberpunk, Horror, Comic Book

Paperback

First published February 9, 2005

About the author

Illustrator and writer of graphic novels / comics.
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Photograph of author by Peow Yeong: October 16 2011 at the 2011 New York Comic Convention in Manhattan.

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 3 out of 5]

7 samurai meets Matrix, Philip K. Dick's "Second variety" short tale (the one who inspired "Screamers" movie with Peter "Robocop" Weller) and Iron Maiden's icon Eddie too, Ben Templesmith style.
If you are a fan of his art add a star, but story was really too short and characters needed a lot of development more.

Covers are amazing!

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sci fi story that reminded me somewhat of the Matrix. An alien race has decided to colonize Earth, so they send a cloud of nanobots to terraform the planet to fit their species. The nanites infect a human who then proceeds to transform the Earth, basically dissolving the humans in the process. However, a handful of humans don't dissolve when exposed to the nanites, and instead develop "powers" of a sort that can be used to battle the invaders. So we have the ragtag group of humans fighting the invaders in post apocalyptic wasteland. This isn't a new trope by any means, but at least it's well done here. The art is perfect for this type of story as well. Overall very entertaining.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wouldn't pay a song for this, or even a penny, if I were you.

[eek · Rating 1 out of 5]

the idea of aliens in form of nanomachines colonizing earth and trying to modify it in a way to suit them for living sounds really interesting. unfortunately this comic book fails in delivering that idea. the story feels very rushed and half-done, there are quite a few illogicalities in the plot, characters are extremely shallow and ending is just one big 'wtf'.
i'm not big fan of art style, either. i guess it has been made that way in order to create nice atmosphere, but it doesn't work for me. it feels just like a sketch - low detail, rough drawing, ink all over the place...
didn't enjoy it and i can't really find one reason to recommend this to anyone.

[Ocean · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art to this is downright awesome. Really fits the vibe of the world building in this little series. Neat story, though I wish there had been some more development in terms of character and story. But the ride was cool throughout. What's there is complete, I just wanted more time in the world to explore it and experience it with the characters.

[Bruce Dixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like his art quite a bit. The concept was ok. Kinda cliche if you've ever played video games.

[Konstantine · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a story, not good at all, but as a piece of art, I loved it. Some excellent goth bullshit that’s just up my alley as comic junk food. Worth it for the character spreads in the end alone.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cyberpunk, nihilistic, dystopian, horrific view of a world corruptly transformed by malfunctioning nanites.

[aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

and to continue my reading for the next two days i finished singularity 7 which is one of ben templesmith's first works. this one is actually his first solo comic and wow is it ever a masterpiece. again, i am very biased when it comes to ben templesmith because i this he is fantastic! his art is always top notch and his storytelling is tight and entertaining. he never tries to go above and beyond what he is good at, but rather really plays to his own strengths. this is a comic of a world that has been taken over by nanites and a few (seven to be exact) people are immune to these nanites and fight for the survival of the world. what follows is a great comic and one i highly recommend!

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I love Templesmith's artwork/style, the story seemed a bit lacking. The relationship between the mains characters has little time to develop, perhaps because he only had a few issues to work within; however, I still enjoyed the work as a whole. With post-apocalyptic being the current "in" topic in the writing world, this work stands up as an example of sacrifice with remorse while trying to stop the dying of the entire world.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cool little set of paintings wrapped around some apocalyptic future-settings. Templesmith creates some fascinating, organic, haunting imagery, and this time around he adds his own storytelling to the mix, with good though stunted results. I enjoyed this, especially for the outright ballsiness of taking on some "deep science speculation" and making it sound about right *and* fun to read. Awesome ending to the story BTW.

[East Bay J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Singularity 7 is a really creative, interesting look at a future where microscopic machines have irrevocably altered the world forever. Killing technology, indeed. An insane “god” rules the people and a tiny handful of renegades set out to end his reign. Good writing but what’s killer is the art. Scary, grim and fluid.

[Trike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mostly enjoyed this science fiction post-apocalypse novel. Being used to Templesmith's work in conjunction with horror, it's interesting to see him adding a slight twist to his usual oeuvre. I didn't find it amazing in its storytelling the way I did with 30 Days of Night or Criminal Macabre and a lot of questions are left unanswered, but overall I was entertained by a very grim subject.

[Ray Saltrelli · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. When I read the synopsis, it sounded cool. But it ended up falling way short. The plot was very rushed, the characters were shallow, the dialog wreaked of action movie cliche. Very disappointing ....

[Felipi Macedo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great art, incredible concept and theming, with a rather original view in the post-apocalyptic cyberpunk world. Unfortunately, the narrative is kind of too fast paced and the characters aren't well developed.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story, nothing to write home about. Unoriginal, unsympathetic characters. Boring, cliche plot with a chickenshit ending. Ben Templesmith's, art, though - 10 stars out of five. Fantastic. Now, if only the writing in some of these comix would catch up with the art...

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bloody great graphic novel!

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art, as usual of Ben Templesmith, is more than stunning. The story is very lacking, though. Obviously, this novel serves more like an artbook than an actual novel.

[Hope · Rating 2 out of 5]

My least favorite of Templesmith's writing. The art was gorgeous but the story could have been much better.

[Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Complete series - no more issues.