Singularity 7
Encyclopedia
Singularity 7 is a four-issue comic book
mini-series
created, written, and illustrated by Ben Templesmith
. It was published by IDW Publishing
in 2004. The series combines elements of science-fiction, cyberpunk, and horror, to tell the story of a post-apocalyptic dystopian future.
The title is a reference to the multiple definitions of ‘singularity’. Burton C. Bell's
introduction to the collected volume references the myriad ways in which the word can (and is) used in the comic, as well as giving a humorous nod to the 'singularity' of the writer. "…the definition [of singularity] expands beyond average intelligence. When I first heard the term, Stephen Hawking defined it when he was describing what might await at the bottom of black holes. All matter that is swallowed by the mighty gravitational pull of a black hole is reduced to a singularity, the size of an atom. That is mind blowing. The term is also used to describe that which is solely unique. This could be an individual or an object. Once in a great while, the world is graced with a Singularity. I believe this term is a perfect description for the latest addition to the world of graphic artists..."
he has said: "Singularity 7 was a first attempt at going it alone. I didn't want to start with Wormwood, so I wanted to pick another smaller thing first. Whatever the outcome of that mini-series was, the process was different to how I do it now. For Singularity 7 and such, I was doing all the art from a basic plot and then adding dialogue after the event. Now I write the whole thing out first, conversationally, and then map out the pages from there, just tweaking the dialogue at the end. I think it works a hell of a lot better, too."
This new world is post-apocalyptic, filled with monsters, poisonous gases, and the nanites, which are now used to devour human flesh. The only things able to go to the surface are the "Gosiodo" - part man / part machine creatures connected to the hive mind of the Singularity and sent out to hunt down the remaining humans, and "Specials" - rare humans who, when exposed to the nanites are mysteriously not killed and instead bond with the nanites, giving them access to strange powers and the ability to survive on the surface.
Chon, a young man living in one of the underground cities has heard the stories of the "Topside" all his life, but shrugged them off as tall tales, until the Gosiodo find his city and expose it to nanites. Everyone is killed, except for Chon who becomes a Special with the ability to morph his arms into a liquid substance capable of eating through Gosiodo armor. Chon is found by a group of Specials led by Dead Eye. They bring Chon along with them to the largest remaining free city, where they have been summoned. Along the way, they are attacked by Gosiodo. Chon uses his arm morphing power against one and seemingly kills it. But in fact the Gosiodo lives, albeit disconnected from the hive mind of the Singularity.
Chon and the Specials arrive at the free city to learn that scientists there have created a virus that can kill the nanites, but for it to work it must be injected directly into the Singularity, who is highly protected in the "dead city". All the surviving specials that could be found, seven including Chon, set off to deliver the virus, a likely suicide mission.
The Gosiodo Chon almost killed attempts to reconnect to the hive, but is unable to. It comes across a woman carrying a baby. He notes that they look human but are in fact made of nanites. The Gosiodo wants to kill them, but can’t, something in his programming is preventing him.
The Specials fight their way through the Gosiodo-infested topside, toward the dead city. Along the way, Acrona is killed. This disheartens the others as Acrona was the oldest living Special. Chon wants to give up and go home, but Dead Eye won’t let him. Meanwhile, the Singularity has sensed the approach of the Specials and fears they will ruin the coming of the "Masters". The woman with the baby appears at the free city and asks to be let in. When the humans allow her entrance, however, she tells them that she is, in fact, a bomb and subsequently explodes, killing everyone.
At the edge of the Dead City, the Specials feel the deaths of so many humans. Again Chon and some of the other talk about giving up, but before they can move, Gosiodo surround them. The Specials fight their way to the center of the city and the Singularity. They arrive just as the mother ships of the Masters appear in the sky. The Specials attack the Singularity, but it makes short work of them, killing most of them, including Chon. Only Dead Eye and one other Special, Gunnar are left alive.
The "Masters" land. We learn that they are an alien race that sent the nanites. (The nanites infect one person, creating the Singularity, which then wipes out all life on the planet and terraforms it for the Master's use). But this Singularity's programming was corrupted somewhere along the way, which is why it's struggled to finish off mankind. The Master kills the Singularity only to discover that there is a second Singularity, the disconnected Gosiodo. The Masters kill this as well, but before they can, Dead Eye injects the virus, which infects not only the Singularity, but also the Masters. The nanites are destroyed, but the virus causes a giant explosion, which kills everyone, save a single baby.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
mini-series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
created, written, and illustrated by Ben Templesmith
Ben Templesmith
Ben Templesmith is an Australian comic book artist best known for his work in the American comic book industry, most notably the Image Comics series Fell, with writer Warren Ellis, which is credited with pioneering a new format for commercial comics, and IDW's 30 Days of Night with writer Steve...
. It was published by IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
in 2004. The series combines elements of science-fiction, cyberpunk, and horror, to tell the story of a post-apocalyptic dystopian future.
The title is a reference to the multiple definitions of ‘singularity’. Burton C. Bell's
Burton C. Bell
Burton Christopher Bell is an American musician. Bell is best known as the frontman of the metal band Fear Factory where he is the only consistent member. His singing style mixes clean vocals with death growls.-Fear Factory:...
introduction to the collected volume references the myriad ways in which the word can (and is) used in the comic, as well as giving a humorous nod to the 'singularity' of the writer. "…the definition [of singularity] expands beyond average intelligence. When I first heard the term, Stephen Hawking defined it when he was describing what might await at the bottom of black holes. All matter that is swallowed by the mighty gravitational pull of a black hole is reduced to a singularity, the size of an atom. That is mind blowing. The term is also used to describe that which is solely unique. This could be an individual or an object. Once in a great while, the world is graced with a Singularity. I believe this term is a perfect description for the latest addition to the world of graphic artists..."
Background
The series marked a departure for Templesmith as it was his first attempt at scripting his own comic. In comparing the experience of writing Singularity to Wormwood: Gentleman CorpseWormwood: Gentleman Corpse
Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse is the second solo comic book series by creator Ben Templesmith. Unlike the bleak post-apocalyptic world of Templesmith's previous work, Singularity, Wormwood is a lighter series which combines humor and horror. It was first published as short episodic serials within...
he has said: "Singularity 7 was a first attempt at going it alone. I didn't want to start with Wormwood, so I wanted to pick another smaller thing first. Whatever the outcome of that mini-series was, the process was different to how I do it now. For Singularity 7 and such, I was doing all the art from a basic plot and then adding dialogue after the event. Now I write the whole thing out first, conversationally, and then map out the pages from there, just tweaking the dialogue at the end. I think it works a hell of a lot better, too."
Story
The comic tells the story of how Earth was forever changed after alien nanites arrived in a meteor shower. The nanites, able to shift the molecular structure of any material, bond with the mind of Bobby Hennigan who initially uses the nanites power to improve life on Earth by building complex machines and curing disease. Unfortunately, Bobby goes crazy, becoming a God-like monster called ‘The Singularity’, destroying everything and forcing humanity to live deep beneath the surface of the Earth.This new world is post-apocalyptic, filled with monsters, poisonous gases, and the nanites, which are now used to devour human flesh. The only things able to go to the surface are the "Gosiodo" - part man / part machine creatures connected to the hive mind of the Singularity and sent out to hunt down the remaining humans, and "Specials" - rare humans who, when exposed to the nanites are mysteriously not killed and instead bond with the nanites, giving them access to strange powers and the ability to survive on the surface.
Chon, a young man living in one of the underground cities has heard the stories of the "Topside" all his life, but shrugged them off as tall tales, until the Gosiodo find his city and expose it to nanites. Everyone is killed, except for Chon who becomes a Special with the ability to morph his arms into a liquid substance capable of eating through Gosiodo armor. Chon is found by a group of Specials led by Dead Eye. They bring Chon along with them to the largest remaining free city, where they have been summoned. Along the way, they are attacked by Gosiodo. Chon uses his arm morphing power against one and seemingly kills it. But in fact the Gosiodo lives, albeit disconnected from the hive mind of the Singularity.
Chon and the Specials arrive at the free city to learn that scientists there have created a virus that can kill the nanites, but for it to work it must be injected directly into the Singularity, who is highly protected in the "dead city". All the surviving specials that could be found, seven including Chon, set off to deliver the virus, a likely suicide mission.
The Gosiodo Chon almost killed attempts to reconnect to the hive, but is unable to. It comes across a woman carrying a baby. He notes that they look human but are in fact made of nanites. The Gosiodo wants to kill them, but can’t, something in his programming is preventing him.
The Specials fight their way through the Gosiodo-infested topside, toward the dead city. Along the way, Acrona is killed. This disheartens the others as Acrona was the oldest living Special. Chon wants to give up and go home, but Dead Eye won’t let him. Meanwhile, the Singularity has sensed the approach of the Specials and fears they will ruin the coming of the "Masters". The woman with the baby appears at the free city and asks to be let in. When the humans allow her entrance, however, she tells them that she is, in fact, a bomb and subsequently explodes, killing everyone.
At the edge of the Dead City, the Specials feel the deaths of so many humans. Again Chon and some of the other talk about giving up, but before they can move, Gosiodo surround them. The Specials fight their way to the center of the city and the Singularity. They arrive just as the mother ships of the Masters appear in the sky. The Specials attack the Singularity, but it makes short work of them, killing most of them, including Chon. Only Dead Eye and one other Special, Gunnar are left alive.
The "Masters" land. We learn that they are an alien race that sent the nanites. (The nanites infect one person, creating the Singularity, which then wipes out all life on the planet and terraforms it for the Master's use). But this Singularity's programming was corrupted somewhere along the way, which is why it's struggled to finish off mankind. The Master kills the Singularity only to discover that there is a second Singularity, the disconnected Gosiodo. The Masters kill this as well, but before they can, Dead Eye injects the virus, which infects not only the Singularity, but also the Masters. The nanites are destroyed, but the virus causes a giant explosion, which kills everyone, save a single baby.
Characters
- Bobby Hennigan was once a regular guy, but when the nanites first came to Earth they took him over. For a while, he tried to do good with his newfound powers, but, soon, he went crazy and began killing everyone.
- Chon, distinguished by the dragon tattoo on his face, is the protagonist of the story. He becomes a Special when his city is destroyed by Gosiodo. He has the ability to turn his arm into a gooey substance which disables the Gosiodo. He is one of the seven Specials sent to destroy the Singularity.
- Geneva has black hair and carries swords. She also appears in the short story from IDW's Tales of Terror.
- Acrona is the oldest Special, even though she looks like a little girl. She is able to blow things up with a burst of green light.
- Deadeye is a Special whose eyes were eaten by nanites before they bonded with him. One of the seven Specials sent to destroy the Singularity, he is able to fight with a 'Nano-Sword'.
- Gunnar is a Special who is able to make guns from nothing.
- Gallis is the Special on the mission who can communicate with the free city. He has a chip implanted in his head which allows him to hear what the Professor is saying. He is the one who realizes when the bomb goes off and destroys the city.
- Makko is a Special who can make hard weapons from nothing. The character is also notable for being the only human with brightly colored hair, in this case, blonde.