Lights, camera … murder? Fame comes at a price for the Gen¹³ team in the third volume of the series.
Writer: Simon Oliver
Art and Cover: Carlo Barberi
Summary: The team heads to New York City for a little rest and relaxation. But when they find their dreams coming true in the Big Apple, Caitlin becomes suspicious! Could I.O. and the Tabula Rasa be behind their sudden good fortune? Or have the kids been on the lam for so long they’ve forgotton how to be happy? Collects issues #14-20.
Review: No, GEN¹³ doesn’t stand for the Girls Entertainment Network raised to the thirteenth power, and there are certainly more of us gorgeous geek gals than that. To be honest, I’ve only read one issue of GEN¹³ before, but what I did read made me want to check out more. Luckily, DC provided us with a volume of the Wildstorm title to review. I’m pretty confident now that picking up the first run would be a worthwhile move.
Think along the lines of X-MEN meets CYBLADE and you’ll be on the right track to GEN¹³. The members of Gen¹³—Caitlin Fairchild, Bobby “Burnout” Lane, Roxy “Freefall” Spaulding, Sarah Rainmaker, and “Grunge”—are youths who were taken from birth and genetically mutated by an International Operations firm called Tabula Rasa. They’ve managed to escape from I.O’s grasp, but they’re still defined by the memories that were designed for them.
Caitlin, the team’s redheaded beauty, is especially haunted by her “past.” And despite Sarah’s urgings that she just needs a break like the rest of them—who are enjoying the vast and exciting New York City concrete jungle—Caitlin insists that they’re being watched. Little does she know that I.O. is working behind the scenes on a project called “15 Minutes” … which reminds me of MTV’s The Real World, but besides dealing with other ahem, diverse individuals, everybody gets the same crappy fate known as death. Well, that’s the plan, anyway. I.O. deploys undercover agents, each of who appeal to each of the Gen¹³. Thankfully, the Gen¹³ team proves they are fully capable of outsmarting I.O., and Caitlin quickly begins to unveil their scheme. But stopping I.O. and terminating the project turns out to be more complex and emotionally disasterous than she expected.
GEN¹³: 15 MINUTES will no doubt give your money’s worth in terms of story, and the characters—including the baddies—all have strong, unique personalities that invests you in their world. My only problem with the book involves the way the artists drew some of the characters. The self-proclaimed “circumstantial vandalist” Bird and Gen¹³’s Burnout look so similar that, unless you can clearly see whether their eyes are blue or green, it can be difficult to tell them apart from one another. Mostly toward the end of the arc, you often have to look twice in order to distinguish between Sarah and her new girlfriend, Jenny. Also, there are many panels where the female characters’ faces have virtually the same artistic layout (shape of the eyes, nose, etc.) and bland expression. It’s kind of funny, but mainly a little disappointing. Still, overall the characters are very distinct, and more importantly the comic is fun and easy to enjoy.
Rating: 4 out of 5
February 24th, 2009 at 9:42 am
I’ve heard about this series. Sounds interesting, I might pick it up when I have some extra cash.
February 24th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Isn’t that always the case, Jill?
February 25th, 2009 at 1:28 am
Le sigh.
February 25th, 2009 at 3:49 am
Gen13 is still around? Without Campbell, there’s really no reason; no one else can make Fairchild look ridiculous strong and sexy at the same time.
February 27th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
I read the first trade of the first run, and really like the characters. Is this a totally different arc from the original GEN13 comics? If so, I want to catch up before I take this one on! Glad you liked it though, puts a fire under my pants to track down the rest of the books!