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2002 says hi!

 
Spent most of today finishing off the trade paperback of Global Frequency. An early noughties series from technophile misanthrope Warren Ellis, he who wrote Transmetropolitan. That'll be one of my favourite reads and the reason why I should have gotten around to reading the rest of his stuff much sooner than I have really. Blame my fickle piecemeal reading habits for that.

As for this, its a mash-up of all the things I've come to expect from his work. Too-trendy-for-you technophiles taking on a cynical, corrupt and unstable world with but bleeding edge tech and a litany of pitch black wisecracks at their disposal. Its fun stuff even if there's a certain feeling of over-familiarity to it. Go with what works I guess. 

An almost if not quite informal network of specialists that can be called upon when the need arises by their mysterious benefactor and her punky second in command. That'll be the Global Frequency of the title. Linked only by their far flung videophones of the far future (2002 says hi!) they take on post Cold War menace, weaponized science and technological fallout on a reliably frequent basis.

It's entertaining in a DVD boxset sorta way but if there's a side effect to the author's fixations on the new and the cutting edge its that certain aspects of his writing date quickly even if they prophecy correctly. Reading this in 2013-14 Global Frequency reads at times like a love letter to Skype. Nothing essentially off about that just a general comment on technological fixation and how well it ages I guess. As for its impact upon the storytelling here its negligible but nearly always a constant presence.

The art on both covers and interiors is absolutely gorgeous beginning to end with a rotating inserting-hyperbole-here rota of all-star artists. So yeah gorgeous to look it and enjoyable to read. Lack of any real character development over the course of the series aside I have very little complaint with what's on offer here. Guess that'll be one of them there recommendations I'm making there.
 
 
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