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Animosity: Evolution (Collected Editions)
Animosity: Evolution, Vol. 2: Lex Machina
Will Wintermute be able to hold onto control of her beloved city? Tensions reach a breaking point after the murder of the Animata — an elite force comprised of animal/tech hybrids. Conspiracies tighten around Adam and his companions as a bloody interspecies gang war explodes in the City by the Sea.
From the brilliant mind of creator/writer Marguerite Bennett (INSEXTS, DC Comics Bombshells, Batwoman) with artwork by SHIPWRECK’s Eric Gapstur, EVOLUTION expands upon this already amazing world! Volume 2 contains the entire second arc, issues #6-10.
From the brilliant mind of creator/writer Marguerite Bennett (INSEXTS, DC Comics Bombshells, Batwoman) with artwork by SHIPWRECK’s Eric Gapstur, EVOLUTION expands upon this already amazing world! Volume 2 contains the entire second arc, issues #6-10.
120 pages, Paperback
Published April 9, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 29, 2020
This is such a different series than the original Animosity book. Lots of political intrigue in this.
Things are getting dire in San Francisco as everyone is fed up with Wintermute. Lots of machinations happen behind the scenes as different factions juggle for supremacy. The cyborg animal business gets a little crazy while the rest of the world struggles to even have electricity. Eric Gapstur's art is really good.
Received a review copy from Aftershock and Edelweiss. all thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.
Things are getting dire in San Francisco as everyone is fed up with Wintermute. Lots of machinations happen behind the scenes as different factions juggle for supremacy. The cyborg animal business gets a little crazy while the rest of the world struggles to even have electricity. Eric Gapstur's art is really good.
Received a review copy from Aftershock and Edelweiss. all thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.
September 11, 2019
The 2nd Volume of Animosity certainly ramps up the political intrigue. Without getting spoilery, this issue focuses on Wintermute and her plans for the animals. We also get to see something about the plans of the Leopard. More than that I will not say.
While this issue certainly as some huge events on display and the situation is indeed becoming dire (in terms of food resources), I liked the turn to more cutthroat politics where there are no "good guys" (saving Dr. North). The artwork is still the same good quality and the unique nature of the story, plus I am inordinately fond of animals, will probably bring me back for issue 3. But I am in no rush.
While this issue certainly as some huge events on display and the situation is indeed becoming dire (in terms of food resources), I liked the turn to more cutthroat politics where there are no "good guys" (saving Dr. North). The artwork is still the same good quality and the unique nature of the story, plus I am inordinately fond of animals, will probably bring me back for issue 3. But I am in no rush.
June 25, 2019
I didn't realise this was the end of the series. Given everything that happens here, I thought it was more of a new beginning than an ending. I can only hope that the main Animosity storyline collides with Evolution, because the set-up here, the politics of the City By The Sea and the changes that they go through in this volume are so intense that I really, really need to know what happens next.
March 3, 2021
(3,4 of 5 for unnecessary wordiness overshadowing decent escalation of the story)
Again, the ending is quite opened, so we may maybe see a continuation to this side series as well, but I hope not so. I finished everything I accumulated and I have no intention to continue if the future will bring a new arc to Animosity or Evolution.
The second part of the evolution didn't deliver even under low expectation. There was a nice escalation but often diluted with a lot of dialogues (or monologues) which were just stuffing. As I felt wit the first book the ending is near, like in the length of two issues, I was probably right. The second book feels like those two issues and an extra three for unnecessary filing.
I'm kind of happy it's over.
Again, the ending is quite opened, so we may maybe see a continuation to this side series as well, but I hope not so. I finished everything I accumulated and I have no intention to continue if the future will bring a new arc to Animosity or Evolution.
The second part of the evolution didn't deliver even under low expectation. There was a nice escalation but often diluted with a lot of dialogues (or monologues) which were just stuffing. As I felt wit the first book the ending is near, like in the length of two issues, I was probably right. The second book feels like those two issues and an extra three for unnecessary filing.
I'm kind of happy it's over.
May 22, 2019
3ish stars rounded up because of the overall quality of the series
This was probably the least enjoyable volume of Animosity (thus far, assuming it keeps going), but even so, the highlights of it are enough to elevate it above most comic books being made. In this world, every animal dictator is a well-educated poet, prone to grandiose monologues. These are both the best and worst of the storytelling, by being both well-written AND so on-the-nose as analogues to the real-world issues of classism, speciesism, and hegemonic power-mongering that they detract from the fictional world-building.
This volume's final page says "The End," but I have a hard time believing Bennett is going to let the story on the San Francisco side stop here. Surely this is by far the biggest title on the AfterShock publishing imprint. Let's hope for much more Animosity after this!
This was probably the least enjoyable volume of Animosity (thus far, assuming it keeps going), but even so, the highlights of it are enough to elevate it above most comic books being made. In this world, every animal dictator is a well-educated poet, prone to grandiose monologues. These are both the best and worst of the storytelling, by being both well-written AND so on-the-nose as analogues to the real-world issues of classism, speciesism, and hegemonic power-mongering that they detract from the fictional world-building.
This volume's final page says "The End," but I have a hard time believing Bennett is going to let the story on the San Francisco side stop here. Surely this is by far the biggest title on the AfterShock publishing imprint. Let's hope for much more Animosity after this!
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January 22, 2020The second half of the San Francisco-set spin-off where some of the newly-talking animals are cyborgs, which has slightly lost its distinctiveness given their cybernetic bits all malfunctioned at the end of the first volume and killed most of them off. I suppose by sticking in one place it remains more of an urban noir piece than the parent book's peregrinations across a changed America, but I just don't feel quite so involved with any of the core cast here and their struggles or dynamics, perhaps simply because the Sandor/Jesse bond at the main series' heart is so powerful. Still, there's a vaguely-functional post-Wake society to protect, even if it does have a bit of a nasty secret – because in the world of Animosity everything does, it being more than anything a lens on the inequalities and averted eyes which allow any system to survive, the hypocrisies and cruelties that necessitates, and the compromises even the noblest would-be-leader must make. Unfortunately, in Evolution this can sometimes lapse into soapy speechifying – which is appropriate in some cases (part of the focus is on how the newly-woken animals have constructed their personalities, sometimes using popular culture as a template), but feels a little less convincing when everyone starts doing it. Still, there are plenty of awesome moments along the way, especially for anyone who's ever seen that Dorset road sign pointing to MONKEY WORLD TANK MUSEUM and then been disappointed to find two separate establishments.
(Edelweiss ARC)
(Edelweiss ARC)
March 19, 2019
Not really sure what to say about this one but I am afraid that this spin-off series should have been shorter as the second book is kinda dragging. I got really lost in all the politics, double and triple crossings...
I really like the main series and the whole premise where animals become "awake" is really entertaining. Evolution (and The Rise mini-series) is focusing on Adam North (half brother of Jesse) and a part of the world where the animals are in charge. The series is also asking interesting questions - how to deal with overpopulation, what to eat when "meat is murder" and half of the population are carnivores, how to distribute the labor and how to make sure everyone is contributing equally.
The topics sound interesting but I don't feel it was executed well as I was confused for most of the time and haven't really understood the motivations of the characters.
Luckily this should be the end of this spin-off series and let's see if we will see the Adam and the others in the main series.
I really like the main series and the whole premise where animals become "awake" is really entertaining. Evolution (and The Rise mini-series) is focusing on Adam North (half brother of Jesse) and a part of the world where the animals are in charge. The series is also asking interesting questions - how to deal with overpopulation, what to eat when "meat is murder" and half of the population are carnivores, how to distribute the labor and how to make sure everyone is contributing equally.
The topics sound interesting but I don't feel it was executed well as I was confused for most of the time and haven't really understood the motivations of the characters.
Luckily this should be the end of this spin-off series and let's see if we will see the Adam and the others in the main series.
February 10, 2020
Animosity Evolution lives up to its name big time. Unlike the previous volume, I just had to see how all of this ends. And it delivers big time.
There is a big tribute to the novella Animal Farm where the themes come big time here. Including a few not so subtle nods like the inclusion of a pig revolutionary. But before that comes the critics. Why ration everything for the long run when someone else profits from the shadows? Why even bother continuing something that slows any progress for the sake of equality if that means everybody has to suffer for everyone else? But for the corporate/objective socialists (mislabeled as capitalists) what happens when your connections turn against you? For that matter if that means getting by purely by connections, doesn't that mean you're stealing everyone else's chances? And for the Meritocrats, what's the point of that when your only use is being livestock for your eventual successors?
And for all of the revolutionaries, do any of them even realize what they'll lose if they go through with it? Especially if they don't fit in that leader's world view. There are people who profit from this kind of division.
Probably the most heartbreaking aspect comes from how people have to look strong, confident, and stoic but end up isolating themselves. This causes rifts between people so much that people they try to push people they care about away to not get them hurt by association. There are people who genuinely try to have good relations with others but still fail miserably. So why do people gather around others who are so much worse like they're the only option? That's nothing short of just giving up.
For the ones who don't fall in to these, they're willing to fight for something bigger. Which looks like it just might lead into the main Animosity series. This might not be a necessary read for the main story, but it can make it even better. Especially if it acts like a story all on its own.
There is a big tribute to the novella Animal Farm where the themes come big time here. Including a few not so subtle nods like the inclusion of a pig revolutionary. But before that comes the critics. Why ration everything for the long run when someone else profits from the shadows? Why even bother continuing something that slows any progress for the sake of equality if that means everybody has to suffer for everyone else? But for the corporate/objective socialists (mislabeled as capitalists) what happens when your connections turn against you? For that matter if that means getting by purely by connections, doesn't that mean you're stealing everyone else's chances? And for the Meritocrats, what's the point of that when your only use is being livestock for your eventual successors?
And for all of the revolutionaries, do any of them even realize what they'll lose if they go through with it? Especially if they don't fit in that leader's world view. There are people who profit from this kind of division.
Probably the most heartbreaking aspect comes from how people have to look strong, confident, and stoic but end up isolating themselves. This causes rifts between people so much that people they try to push people they care about away to not get them hurt by association. There are people who genuinely try to have good relations with others but still fail miserably. So why do people gather around others who are so much worse like they're the only option? That's nothing short of just giving up.
For the ones who don't fall in to these, they're willing to fight for something bigger. Which looks like it just might lead into the main Animosity series. This might not be a necessary read for the main story, but it can make it even better. Especially if it acts like a story all on its own.
April 29, 2019
Zakončení zvířecí hry o trůny.
A bohužel zakončení není tak velkolepé, jak člověk doufal po údalostech prvního dílu. Spíš je to takové malé prdnutí si do vody. Jedna bublina, trocha smradu a za chvilku je po všem.
Možná je to tím, že se v tom, jak každý potřebuje zradit každého a každý sleduje nějaké vlastní cíle, po chvíli ztratí většina tempa a build-upu z minulého dílu. Možná je to tím, že v hlavní řadě Marguerite ukazuje, že tenhle svět dokáže být mnohem zajímavější a drsnější (a to rozhodně nejde říct, že by tohle byl nějak mírumilovný díl). Ať už je to, jak chce, tak výsledkem je spíše průměr, ze kterého si odnáším čistě trochu poznatků o tom, co dělal bratr hrdinky z hlavní řady a co doufám, že bude aspoň trochu využito až nastane čas setkání (pokud vůbec).
Mohlo by se vám líbit, pokud:
- si chcete dát takovou drsnější Farmu zvířat
Spíš vás zklame, pokud:
- jste vegani z lásky ke zvířatům a nestojíte o žádný snuff komiks
- jste doufali v monumentální finále s velkolepými souboji o nadvládu nad městem
A bohužel zakončení není tak velkolepé, jak člověk doufal po údalostech prvního dílu. Spíš je to takové malé prdnutí si do vody. Jedna bublina, trocha smradu a za chvilku je po všem.
Možná je to tím, že se v tom, jak každý potřebuje zradit každého a každý sleduje nějaké vlastní cíle, po chvíli ztratí většina tempa a build-upu z minulého dílu. Možná je to tím, že v hlavní řadě Marguerite ukazuje, že tenhle svět dokáže být mnohem zajímavější a drsnější (a to rozhodně nejde říct, že by tohle byl nějak mírumilovný díl). Ať už je to, jak chce, tak výsledkem je spíše průměr, ze kterého si odnáším čistě trochu poznatků o tom, co dělal bratr hrdinky z hlavní řady a co doufám, že bude aspoň trochu využito až nastane čas setkání (pokud vůbec).
Mohlo by se vám líbit, pokud:
- si chcete dát takovou drsnější Farmu zvířat
Spíš vás zklame, pokud:
- jste vegani z lásky ke zvířatům a nestojíte o žádný snuff komiks
- jste doufali v monumentální finále s velkolepými souboji o nadvládu nad městem
November 3, 2021
★★★★☆½ rounded down.
This volume was my favorite between the two (I had no idea this is another part of the series and now I've gotta go read Animosity, Vol. 1: The Wake ). This volume has so many quotes I loved and just seemed really philosophical.
This volume was my favorite between the two (I had no idea this is another part of the series and now I've gotta go read Animosity, Vol. 1: The Wake ). This volume has so many quotes I loved and just seemed really philosophical.
January 18, 2020
This is the spin off from the main Animosity series. It focuses on Adam. It is quite gripping with lots of twists and turns. I think this should definately be read alongside the main series and hopefully the two series will merge together at some point because that would be great to see.
February 25, 2021
I can not say enough about Marguerite Bennett's world of Animosity.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews