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Pandemica
Join the resistance and save the world in this graphic novel from New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry!
War is brewing in America. A shadow government is preparing to launch "purity bombs" for ethnic cleansing, but there are things worse than death. Designer pandemics are colliding and mutating, pushing humanity to the edge of permanent darkness. One child holds the key to human survival or extinction and everyone is hunting for her but a small group of scientists and former SpecOps shooters stand in their way.
Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times-bestselling author and five-time Bram Stoker Award-winner. His other projects include Rot & Ruin, V-Wars, the Joe Ledger series of novels, and The Pine Deep Trilogy among many others.
War is brewing in America. A shadow government is preparing to launch "purity bombs" for ethnic cleansing, but there are things worse than death. Designer pandemics are colliding and mutating, pushing humanity to the edge of permanent darkness. One child holds the key to human survival or extinction and everyone is hunting for her but a small group of scientists and former SpecOps shooters stand in their way.
Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times-bestselling author and five-time Bram Stoker Award-winner. His other projects include Rot & Ruin, V-Wars, the Joe Ledger series of novels, and The Pine Deep Trilogy among many others.
128 pages, Paperback
First published June 2, 2020
18 people are currently reading
288 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Maberry
520 books7,785 followersJONATHAN MABERRY is a NYTimes bestselling author, #1 Audible bestseller, 5-time Bram Stoker Award-winner, 4-time Scribe Award winner, Inkpot Award winner, comic book writer, and producer. He is the author of more than 50 novels, 190 short stories, 16 short story collections, 30 graphic novels, 14 nonfiction books, and has edited 26 anthologies. His vampire apocalypse book series, V-WARS, was a Netflix original series starring Ian Somerhalder. His 2009-10 run as writer on the Black Panther comic formed a large chunk of the recent blockbuster film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. His bestselling YA zombie series, Rot & Ruin is in development for film at Alcon Entertainment; and John Wick director, Chad Stahelski, is developing Jonathan’s Joe Ledger Thrillers for TV. Jonathan writes in multiple genres including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction, epic fantasy, and action; and he writes for adults, teens and middle grade. His works include The Pine Deep Trilogy, The Kagen the Damned Trilogy, NecroTek, Ink, Glimpse, the Rot & Ruin series, the Dead of Night series, The Wolfman, X-Files Origins: Devil’s Advocate, The Sleepers War (with Weston Ochse), Mars One, and many others. He is the editor of high-profile anthologies including Weird Tales: 100 Years of Weird, The X-Files, Aliens: Bug Hunt, Out of Tune, Don’t Turn out the Lights: A Tribute to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Baker Street Irregulars, Nights of the Living Dead, Shadows & Verse, and others. His comics include Marvel Zombies Return, The Punisher: Naked Kills, Wolverine: Ghosts, Godzilla vs Cthulhu: Death May Die, Bad Blood and many others. Jonathan has written in many popular licensed worlds, including Hellboy, True Blood, The Wolfman, John Carter of Mars, Sherlock Holmes, C.H.U.D., Diablo IV, Deadlands, World of Warcraft, Planet of the Apes, Aliens, Predator, Karl Kolchak, and many others. He the president of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers, and the editor of Weird Tales Magazine. He lives in San Diego, California. Find him online at www.jonathanmaberry.com
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 3, 2020
I started picking this up in individual issues in the pre-pandemic world of 2019. As it became clearer and clearer that COVID-19 was going to make 2020 a really terrible year I started wondering how prescient this series was going to be (I was buying the individual issues but saving them to be read all in one go).
Well, I’ve just read them and the answer to the prescience question is ‘not very’. This is more of a ‘28 Days Later’ type horror/action thing than a serious reflection on what it would actually be like to live through a real pandemic. It’s none the weaker for that, though, as long as you like that sort of thing (and I do).
What it IS weaker for, however, is the final issue. This was clearly planned to be a much longer series, as the second half of the final issue squeezes... no, ‘squeezes’ isn’t a strong enough word... the final issue CRUSHES about four issues worth of plot into as many pages. This probably happened for practical reasons and/or an artistic decision about the appropriateness of publishing a book of this nature during the current (at time of writing) real life pandemic. This is a real shame, though, as I was enjoying the heck out of this book right up until the moment it got pulled into a black hole.
Well, I’ve just read them and the answer to the prescience question is ‘not very’. This is more of a ‘28 Days Later’ type horror/action thing than a serious reflection on what it would actually be like to live through a real pandemic. It’s none the weaker for that, though, as long as you like that sort of thing (and I do).
What it IS weaker for, however, is the final issue. This was clearly planned to be a much longer series, as the second half of the final issue squeezes... no, ‘squeezes’ isn’t a strong enough word... the final issue CRUSHES about four issues worth of plot into as many pages. This probably happened for practical reasons and/or an artistic decision about the appropriateness of publishing a book of this nature during the current (at time of writing) real life pandemic. This is a real shame, though, as I was enjoying the heck out of this book right up until the moment it got pulled into a black hole.
March 13, 2024
This was a good series that had the misfortune to appear just as Covid did, so everybody was sick of the idea. The plot seemed overly familiar, but it was well done. Basically, the cure has to be taken through a hostile landscape of crazed, hostile racists to the scientists who can save humanity. It was well executed until the last section, which felt like a smooshed-up summary more than the conclusion to the story. The pencils by Alex Sanchez serve the story well, but the colors are way too brown and grey and dark. It's not a bad read, but not great one, either.
August 14, 2020
I don't know if you've noticed, but we living through a wee bit of a pandemic at the moment. A virus sweeping the globe that no one really understands or can control or treat.
So reading about viruses as bioweapons which are being used to further the dream of an Aryan race would seem like an odd choice for a relaxing read...
But sometimes personal recommendations resonate, and when a friend started raving about this it seemed churlish to ignore their enthusiasm.
And to be fair, they were right.
By no means an easy read – especially with times being what they are – Pandemica is a gripping, painful, uncomfortable thrill-ride with artwork that is as gritty and visceral as the dialogue is realistic.
This book will make you squirm. You may well have to put it down for a bit. You will certainly not like the necessary language at times.
But all of these things serve to provide an amazing graphic novel experience.
Characters you will love, characters you will hate, a plot that is eerily believable right now and a climax that will have you gripping the pages til your knuckles go white.
What more could you ask for right now?
So reading about viruses as bioweapons which are being used to further the dream of an Aryan race would seem like an odd choice for a relaxing read...
But sometimes personal recommendations resonate, and when a friend started raving about this it seemed churlish to ignore their enthusiasm.
And to be fair, they were right.
By no means an easy read – especially with times being what they are – Pandemica is a gripping, painful, uncomfortable thrill-ride with artwork that is as gritty and visceral as the dialogue is realistic.
This book will make you squirm. You may well have to put it down for a bit. You will certainly not like the necessary language at times.
But all of these things serve to provide an amazing graphic novel experience.
Characters you will love, characters you will hate, a plot that is eerily believable right now and a climax that will have you gripping the pages til your knuckles go white.
What more could you ask for right now?
September 15, 2020
L'unica pecca? Il finale che è talmente il culmine di un mondo ben costruito che lo si vorrebbe ancora vedere per sbirciarne gli esiti.
Narrazione agilissima che riesce ad alternare azione a interiorità dei personaggi, approfondendoli senza però soffermarcisi troppo. Maberry è e rimane un narratore eccezionale.
Narrazione agilissima che riesce ad alternare azione a interiorità dei personaggi, approfondendoli senza però soffermarcisi troppo. Maberry è e rimane un narratore eccezionale.
December 22, 2020
The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because a lot of readers may be put off by the entire subject matter of ethnically-targeted bioweapons. The point when these eugenics believers are in the scenes is for hyperbole, or rather to make it glaringly obvious who the bad guys are.
I can recommend it as a scifi book with economic and political backdrops with content warnings for racism and violence.
I can recommend it as a scifi book with economic and political backdrops with content warnings for racism and violence.
July 31, 2020
If you like Rot & Ruin, you’ll probably enjoy this graphic novel.
On the other hand, if you like Rot & Ruin, you’ll probably wish this was an actual novel with more depth. I am left wanting to know a lot more.
On the other hand, if you like Rot & Ruin, you’ll probably wish this was an actual novel with more depth. I am left wanting to know a lot more.
June 10, 2020
Awesome! Maberry doing what he does best, staying one step ahead of what is happening in society. One would think that this was written post-Covid, but nope, it was well before. If a fan of Maberry, this is for you! If not, try it. You’ll love it!
June 17, 2020
Wish there was more, great storyline, would have liked to explore it deeper.
October 5, 2020
Meh, 2.5 stars rounded down. It seemed like it started decent and then it kind of just went off the rails and didn't even know what it was doing with itself and then abruptly ends. Maberry is a horror novelist (mostly zombie books it seems, I've read one) so I imagine this graphic novel is missing all the pertinent information to make it better. But even still, within the book there are some meh things going on.
The original premise is ok, if a bit [a lot] unbelievable. Some powerful and rich Nazis set out to create disease that affects only non-whites (and with any instance of a white person being sick, they are called mud bloods or whatever) to keep the earth the proper aryan shade of boring. The book gives a half-assed explanation regarding CRISPR and whatnot so the reader can better suspend disbelief, but still sounds like an awful big stretch. So this one Jew scientist for the CDC thinks it's all a conspiracy and goes rogue, ruining his career but somehow having a blank check budget on creating a secret organization to bring out the truth. One the public side and bickering back and forth and politicians doing their thing it's very reminiscent of COVID-19 oddly enough, despite being written just prior.
I found it kind of funny that the lady that becomes the main character was presented as a great investigative journalist, but turns out is actually a murderous super-spec-ops soldier. Her and a buddy jump into all kinds of places with guns ablazin....just after talking about doing something legally. And other silly contradictions.
Anyway, kind of a meh book.
The original premise is ok, if a bit [a lot] unbelievable. Some powerful and rich Nazis set out to create disease that affects only non-whites (and with any instance of a white person being sick, they are called mud bloods or whatever) to keep the earth the proper aryan shade of boring. The book gives a half-assed explanation regarding CRISPR and whatnot so the reader can better suspend disbelief, but still sounds like an awful big stretch. So this one Jew scientist for the CDC thinks it's all a conspiracy and goes rogue, ruining his career but somehow having a blank check budget on creating a secret organization to bring out the truth. One the public side and bickering back and forth and politicians doing their thing it's very reminiscent of COVID-19 oddly enough, despite being written just prior.
I found it kind of funny that the lady that becomes the main character was presented as a great investigative journalist, but turns out is actually a murderous super-spec-ops soldier. Her and a buddy jump into all kinds of places with guns ablazin....just after talking about doing something legally. And other silly contradictions.
Anyway, kind of a meh book.
July 8, 2020
The cover image of this book, of a weaponised woman carrying a baby in a hazmat suit in a papoose through an Apocalyptic city is the lead-in to this story. It's also by far the best thing about it. We quickly learn that white supremacists are thinning the herd, by spreading every disease known to man as weapons against any other ethnicity. The Bill Gates of the viral world, with a very handy humongous inheritance, has built an army of special soldiers to get rid of the racists, the Pandemica of the title. And even though they know the lead enemy of theirs is a nasty piece of work – and even though they know he should by all rights be very dead – they're going to try their best to get the diseases and the terrorists off the streets.
The book is not a match to that set-up. Visually it's a hodge-podge of browns, beiges, khakis and combat colours, and far too often the plot is someone being antagonistic to someone else equally antagonistic and very similar looking. Which is why I zoned in on the cover image at the start of this write-up, for the twist behind its place in the plot is the most memorable thing here. In hindsight the whole thing seems a set-up to the situation in that design, and the rest feels actually quite disposable. It's a book I feel will fall by the wayside, not least because we know the truth of the runaway sickness on the streets courtesy of Covid-19, and these pages aren't a patch on the real world narrative.
A grudging two and a half stars.
The book is not a match to that set-up. Visually it's a hodge-podge of browns, beiges, khakis and combat colours, and far too often the plot is someone being antagonistic to someone else equally antagonistic and very similar looking. Which is why I zoned in on the cover image at the start of this write-up, for the twist behind its place in the plot is the most memorable thing here. In hindsight the whole thing seems a set-up to the situation in that design, and the rest feels actually quite disposable. It's a book I feel will fall by the wayside, not least because we know the truth of the runaway sickness on the streets courtesy of Covid-19, and these pages aren't a patch on the real world narrative.
A grudging two and a half stars.
July 8, 2020
A premissa do livro é interessante: uma série de epidemias devasta o mundo, mas há algo de comum às suas vítimas - são poucas as brancas. Não são viroses naturais, mas sim armas biológicas de vírus geneticamente manipulados para atacar etnias, uma conspiração de supremacistas brancos que querem purificar o planeta. Mas a execução da história é desastrosa. Não se percebe bem o que se passa nela, há muitas cenas de ação com um grupo de cientistas e ex-agentes que tenta travar a conspiração, e uma bebé africana contaminada com todas as doenças e que por isso mesmo poderá ser a chave para o desenvolvimento de curas. Este livro é um daqueles exemplos de como uma excelente ideia pode ser anulada por um argumento medíocre.
September 25, 2020
Read this in single issues 1-5
I’m attracted to the concept but the execution is really poor, both in writing and art.
The final issue is almost unintelligible, between writer and artist they don’t have a grip on sequential storytelling at all. The transition between panels and scenes is terrible erratic at time. The ending is also very rushed, as if this was supposed to be 6 issues but the writer got bored of it. I know I was.
Dumb dialogue and stupid one dimensional characters throughout. Really poor stuff.
I’m attracted to the concept but the execution is really poor, both in writing and art.
The final issue is almost unintelligible, between writer and artist they don’t have a grip on sequential storytelling at all. The transition between panels and scenes is terrible erratic at time. The ending is also very rushed, as if this was supposed to be 6 issues but the writer got bored of it. I know I was.
Dumb dialogue and stupid one dimensional characters throughout. Really poor stuff.
September 20, 2020
I’ll thought it interesting story . Very leftest propaganda. It all most it reverse discrimination of white people . For all the white people are either bigots or assholes
There better way to talk about racism then this .
Highly disappointed , normally Maberry is a great writer 🤷♂️
visually the artist is not that great to
Not my cup of tea
There better way to talk about racism then this .
Highly disappointed , normally Maberry is a great writer 🤷♂️
visually the artist is not that great to
Not my cup of tea
March 3, 2021
En intressant historia som är helt rätt i tiden. Att den konservativa högern (tänk Trump) skulle försöka utplåna alla icke vita genom att utsätta dem för sjukdomar utan bot. Spännande! Jag har svårt för stilen. Främst är det ansiktsuttrycken som känns aparta. Och massor med streck och rynkor som gör varje scen till en grimas.
August 6, 2020
DPL hoopla
Very timely, in multiple ways.
Very timely, in multiple ways.
August 31, 2020
Meh. It's only relevant because of the current pandemic. Otherwise it's rather dumb.
March 1, 2021
Unless I missed something, there is lots of story left out of this comic. The final “battle“ left a lot to the imagination and just seemed weird and rushed. Not a fan.
January 31, 2022
the idea is nice and the artwork is great. I just didn't care for the characters unfortunately.
July 19, 2023
It started off really strong, but the ending just felt anti-climactic. Like I was missing a few pages or chapters.
August 19, 2023
Great story, even if it's absolutely terrible! Like, a good plot of horrible people and events. It's just not my favorite at style, and when reading a comic, that can be detracting.
February 19, 2024
Wish there was more to it! Didn’t want it to end!
July 31, 2024
Not quite a full 4 because the 'child that saved em all' is a bit overdone.
But, the premise of the story why a bit too 'big' also reads far too plausible.
But, the premise of the story why a bit too 'big' also reads far too plausible.
January 5, 2021
Premise was great, but the story was clunky and kind of fell flat. Heavy on the "tell", light on the "show". Had lots of potential, but didn't quite hit home.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews