Fluorescent Black (comics)
Encyclopedia
Fluorescent Black is a comics story published between 2008 and 2010 in Heavy Metal Magazine. It is one of the more popular series published in the magazine and is strikingly different in tone and style from many of the other stories Heavy Metal publishes.
Many real locations in Singapore and Malaysia, such as the Biopolis
and Jurong Town and Taman Daya, are visited or referred to by the characters in the book.
The future, as portrayed in Fluorescent Black, is one where genetech advances have separated the human race into two separate races: Homo sapiens inferioris and Homo sapiens superioris. A mandatory bio-statistic test is used to determine which category each person falls into.
The Inferiors are labeled as such because they have congenital disorder
s, which means they are usually crazy and sick and dying. The Superiors are paragons of good breeding and have improved themselves with manufactured genetics, making them hyper intelligent, strong and healthy. The Inferiors live on the Malaysian peninsula (a dangerous ghetto overrun by splice
animals and plants) and the Superiors live on the island of Singapore (a Utopian city of the future). They are separated by an armed border.
The Inferiors often form into gangs that survive by kidnapping and ransoming Superiors, killing other Inferior gangs, or doing dangerous work-for-hire for Superior clients.
Blue: Max's twin sister and his better half. The dark deeds she and Max have done to survive weigh heavily on her conscience, which is why she medicates her emotional pain by smoking “the flower." She is terribly attached to her brother, worries about him constantly, and does not like to go anywhere without him.
Nina: She is the human property of Ugen corporation, stunningly beautiful and immune to all biological threats. She has spent her entire life being prepared for the moment when she will become a test model for a new Ugen genetics upgrade. Because she is inexperienced in life, she is completely naïve about the outside world, giving her a childlike innocence and curiosity about the people and places outside her bubble.
Dr. Anja Rupinder: He is over eighty years old but looks like he is in his mid thirties. His genius is the source of Ugen's highly successful transgenic research department. His focus is in “brain building". He has developed his magnum opus, a gene that will revolutionize the way humans think and communicate, and no moral barriers will stop him from seeing it through. He was the man who created Nina.
Lovely Boy: A light skinned lady boy. He is the Butcher's den mother. Despite his genetic "problems", he is blessed with a steady hand, a sharp eye and an even temper. This makes him the perfect field surgeon and also means he's good with a gun
Holiday: A towering Korean brute with a gleeful love of violence. Since he was a kid in the street, he has been unstable. His size and unnatural strength are frighteningly unchecked by his lack of impulse control.
Starlet: A psycho prostitute from Angels, a brothel for unusual tastes. She is the sworn enemy of the Butchers, her competition in the business of organ legging. While being somewhat scrappy and emaciated, she is nearly unkillable. The Butchers often refer to her and her gang as "The Roaches".
Mr. No Name: Part soldier, part business man: the chief representative for PRO-TEC, a Malaysian military technology development corporation. He is a host to millions of micro-organisms that repair and protect his body.
genetic design created by the ultimately powerful and intelligent Anja Rupinder. It gives Nina an unpredictable and dangerous ability to create a "psychic
transmission" that causes nearby people to hallucinate and also causes her to remember moments from their memory. This effect is similar to the Vulcan mind meld in Star Trek. This random mutation makes Nina's genetics priceless.
After Max and his crew discover their captive is worth billions of dollars they have to go on the run to avoid all of the people (mercenaries, police forces, and other gangs) who are trying to recapture Nina. They travel to strange areas like the Greenbelt, an unnatural ecosystem forming on the Malaysian Peninsula and a red light district
for freakish prostitutes. At first, Max only sees Nina as an object for sale, but as he comes to treasure her innocence and naivete, he becomes enthralled with her.
Publication history
The story appeared in three parts in Heavy Metal magazine vol. 32 #6 (September 2008) , vol. 33 #6 (September 2009) and vol. 34 #6 (September 2010)Setting
The novel takes place in the year 2085 in the area surrounding Singapore and the Malaysian Peninsula. A large portion of the book is written in the native pidgin dialect of Singapore: SinglishSinglish
Colloquial Singaporean English, also known as Singlish, is an English-based creole language spoken in Singapore.Singlish is commonly regarded with low prestige in Singapore. The Singaporean government and many Singaporeans alike heavily discourage the use of Singlish in favour of Standard English...
Many real locations in Singapore and Malaysia, such as the Biopolis
Biopolis
Biopolis is an international research and development centre located in Singapore for biomedical sciences. It is located in One-North in Buona Vista, near Dover, and is close to the National University of Singapore, the Singapore Polytechnic, the Institute of Technical Education, the National...
and Jurong Town and Taman Daya, are visited or referred to by the characters in the book.
The future, as portrayed in Fluorescent Black, is one where genetech advances have separated the human race into two separate races: Homo sapiens inferioris and Homo sapiens superioris. A mandatory bio-statistic test is used to determine which category each person falls into.
The Inferiors are labeled as such because they have congenital disorder
Congenital disorder
A congenital disorder, or congenital disease, is a condition existing at birth and often before birth, or that develops during the first month of life , regardless of causation...
s, which means they are usually crazy and sick and dying. The Superiors are paragons of good breeding and have improved themselves with manufactured genetics, making them hyper intelligent, strong and healthy. The Inferiors live on the Malaysian peninsula (a dangerous ghetto overrun by splice
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
animals and plants) and the Superiors live on the island of Singapore (a Utopian city of the future). They are separated by an armed border.
The Inferiors often form into gangs that survive by kidnapping and ransoming Superiors, killing other Inferior gangs, or doing dangerous work-for-hire for Superior clients.
Characters
Max: He's the de facto leader of The Butchers. Though he suffers from a neurological movement disorder called Dystonia, he is as tough as coffin nails. He's become emotionally numb from the things he has had to do to carve out an existence for his family. The only thing he truly cares about is his sister Blue and finding a way out of the ugly world they have landed in.Blue: Max's twin sister and his better half. The dark deeds she and Max have done to survive weigh heavily on her conscience, which is why she medicates her emotional pain by smoking “the flower." She is terribly attached to her brother, worries about him constantly, and does not like to go anywhere without him.
Nina: She is the human property of Ugen corporation, stunningly beautiful and immune to all biological threats. She has spent her entire life being prepared for the moment when she will become a test model for a new Ugen genetics upgrade. Because she is inexperienced in life, she is completely naïve about the outside world, giving her a childlike innocence and curiosity about the people and places outside her bubble.
Dr. Anja Rupinder: He is over eighty years old but looks like he is in his mid thirties. His genius is the source of Ugen's highly successful transgenic research department. His focus is in “brain building". He has developed his magnum opus, a gene that will revolutionize the way humans think and communicate, and no moral barriers will stop him from seeing it through. He was the man who created Nina.
Lovely Boy: A light skinned lady boy. He is the Butcher's den mother. Despite his genetic "problems", he is blessed with a steady hand, a sharp eye and an even temper. This makes him the perfect field surgeon and also means he's good with a gun
Holiday: A towering Korean brute with a gleeful love of violence. Since he was a kid in the street, he has been unstable. His size and unnatural strength are frighteningly unchecked by his lack of impulse control.
Starlet: A psycho prostitute from Angels, a brothel for unusual tastes. She is the sworn enemy of the Butchers, her competition in the business of organ legging. While being somewhat scrappy and emaciated, she is nearly unkillable. The Butchers often refer to her and her gang as "The Roaches".
Mr. No Name: Part soldier, part business man: the chief representative for PRO-TEC, a Malaysian military technology development corporation. He is a host to millions of micro-organisms that repair and protect his body.
Plot synopsis
In the first book, an Inferior named Max and his gang called "The Butchers" are hired by a Superior client working for Protech Biotechnology to commit a bioterrorist attack on their competitor Ugen Biotechnology. The Butchers travel across the border to a Ugen nursery outside of the city of Singapore. They release a spore inside the building. During the attack, they kidnap a Ugen clone named Nina and attempt to ransom her. Nina is the first model of a cutting edge grey matterGrey matter
Grey matter is a major component of the central nervous system, consisting of neuronal cell bodies, neuropil , glial cells and capillaries. Grey matter contains neural cell bodies, in contrast to white matter, which does not and mostly contains myelinated axon tracts...
genetic design created by the ultimately powerful and intelligent Anja Rupinder. It gives Nina an unpredictable and dangerous ability to create a "psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
transmission" that causes nearby people to hallucinate and also causes her to remember moments from their memory. This effect is similar to the Vulcan mind meld in Star Trek. This random mutation makes Nina's genetics priceless.
After Max and his crew discover their captive is worth billions of dollars they have to go on the run to avoid all of the people (mercenaries, police forces, and other gangs) who are trying to recapture Nina. They travel to strange areas like the Greenbelt, an unnatural ecosystem forming on the Malaysian Peninsula and a red light district
Red Light District
Red Light District may refer to:* Red-light district - a neighborhood where prostitution is common* The Red Light District - the title of the 2004 album by rapper Ludacris* Red Light District Video - a pornography studio based in Los Angeles, California...
for freakish prostitutes. At first, Max only sees Nina as an object for sale, but as he comes to treasure her innocence and naivete, he becomes enthralled with her.
Collected editions
The story was collected into a limited edition hardcover as well as paperback graphic novel by Heavy Metal.Adaptation
Fluorescent Black is an original screenplay written in 2007 by writer/director M. F. Wilson and optioned by Imagi Studios who then commissioned the adaptation into comics form.External links
- Nathan Fox at LambiekLambiekLambiek is a comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded in 1968 by Kees Kousemaker .It has held exhibitions of art by comic creators, including Robert Crumb, Daniel Clowes, Erik Kriek, André Franquin, Tanino Liberatore and Chris Ware...
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