Zeb Larson reviews Narcopolis: Continuum #1…
In the near distant future, genius inventor Ben creates the ultimate drug. No ordinary narcotic, its effects will take Ben on a trip through time in an attempt to uncover the truth behind his father’s disappearance twenty years ago. In searching for answers, the past reveals its secrets that the young scientist won’t accept, even if it means risking everything he’s worked for.
As the title might suggest, Narcopolis is a story about drugs and drug use. Basedon the film of the same name and drawing on a combination of H.G. Wells and Aldous Huxley, the book is about a futuristic Britain where the market on recreational drugs has been legalized and one company, Ambro, has effective control of that market. That’s only the introduction however, and the story goes in an unexpected direction from there involving time-travel and a company conspiracy. I will be discussing spoilers in this review, so only continue reading if that isn’t a problem.
Ben Grieves is a scientist working for Ambro in 2044. Twenty years before, his father disappeared after giving him a copy of H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, and Ben has become obsessed with figuring out what happened to him. Working with his assistant Eva and following the notes of a scientist named Yuri Sidorov, Ben has found a drug that allows the user to travel through time. Shooting it directly into his eye, he finds himself in the future. His father is being interrogated by a company agent named Todd about Ben’s whereabouts and the drug, and just as Ben tries to intervene, Yuri Sidorov appears. No sooner than this ends does Bend find himself receiving a visitor from the future: himself.
Full disclosure: I have not seen the movie that this is based on. Reading through this though, I felt that I had a reasonably strong grasp of what was going on; there were no glaring points of confusion or plot holes I couldn’t understand, so I think you can approach this independently.
The Narcopolis universe plays out as though somebody approved the use of Soma from Brave New World, which is fitting. Without injecting my own political opinions, companies are already trying to make money off of drug legalization in the United States. The logical extension of that would be a company that tries to corner the market on recreational drug use, criminalizing anybody who cuts into its business practices. I’m on board with it.
The scene in the future might have carried a little more weight if we had a better idea who Todd was. As it stands, I’m not sure of the real significance of it, so I guess I’ll have to see what happens in the second issue. Ben is a bit of a conundrum, too. Eva comments at one point that he’s been acting oddly, and he does sort of talk like a crazy person throughout the book, so I want some more characterization there.
I also want to know what Ambro’s got planned for this drug. Clearly, what Ben has discovered is going to threaten the future, and nothing spoils the future like time-travel in the present. Are they really irresponsible enough to try and apply something like this? Or is there another angle here? I’m curious to see that revealed.
Rating: 8/10
Zeb Larson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=3AMx7tPsXgQ
Originally published December 9, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
