A comic book series that taps into the life of science and portrays the scientist as the rock star; the polar opposites flipped on their heads; a reflection of a world we’re trying to make sense of based in a near future, and superheroes on a space station trying to make sense of the scientific disaster that has struck them – all with mass consequences.
Nowhere Men is a series that taps into the adulation of people who deliver technological and scientific advancement to the masses. The fascination we hold for the rock star – the outrageous messianism we want to believe in – is carefully grafted onto the central characters – the four scientists. Simon Grimshaw, Dade Ellis, Emerson Strange and Thomas Walker have achieved superstar status with their company Worldcorp, yet become estranged. It rings of the breakup of the Beatles, where Worldcorp is the band falling apart and Grimshaw is Paul McCartney moving on with Wings.
The demise of Worldcorp teases out the post-modern celebrity. It follows when their rise to fame crashes after Grimshaw wants to sell out and work for the government to produce weaponry science. The move opposes the ideologies of the other founders who prefer a change the world idealism to empower humanity.
There’s the juxtaposition of interviews and legions of fans, but the comic crafts a careful warning to its audience. The internal tensions between the characters, the handling of media to carefully construct the breakup for the public, all lends itself to a world we currently question. Written by Eric Stephenson and illustrated by several artists, Nowhere Men nails a mix of Fantastic Four with the Beatles Invasion in the 1960s. The swap of music for science places the genius in the public’s imagination, rather the musician or actor.
The conceit that parallels the star is still there, they are still the celebrity just in a different disguise. But it’s the importance of scientific advancement that comes with the comic that mustn’t be overlooked. Nowhere Men’s creative intentions provide a platform for the dangers, fear and awe that come with research and development. Panic surrounds the superheroes quarantined in Strange’s space station after they become infected with a super-virus. While these characters are undergoing physiological changes, they are trying to fight for their own understanding of what is happening. All the while, as the world is ignorant of this, the iconic superstar on Earth is battling out the internal politics of their own conflicting agenda.
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