Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, devolution, dynamite, entertainment, Jonathan Wayshak, rick remender

Devolution – The Trade Hollywood Producers Should Be Ordering

Published Thu, 19 May 2016 15:30:59 -0500

Dynamite announced today that Devolution will be getting collected in August. And they sent out a press release and everything. But press releases are boring. The truth is, this series by Rick Remender and Jonathan Wayshak should be on the buy list of every producer in Hollywood.

Remender made the jump from inker to writer and has been hitting it out of the park with series like Black Science, Low and Deadly Class. With Devolution he's created a new world where most living creatures on Earth have been devolved into their prehistoric incarnations. Cities have toppled, dinosaurs are back and there are giant insects and Nazi hillbillies. The story revolves around Raja, a still-homosapien human trying to get to San Francisco to find the antidote for the viral agent that was released on the world.

They key to the whole story is the viral agent, called DVO-8, and why it was released. Someone got the idea that the best way to stop war is to eliminate religion. But since religion is faith-based, a viral agent was created that would change the part of the human brain that would allow religious belief.

This concept is almost perfect for a TV series. Something that could work well on everything from AMC and SyFy to Netflix or HBO. A fantastic world that is still familiar. Young female lead. Visually stunning creatures. A specific quest for humanities last hope. Plus the religious / anti-religious angle that would get the show some additional press. I saw this when I read and reviewed the first issue. But the days of Hollywood jumping on a concept from issue one… like what happened to 30 Days of Night… is probably over. But hand them a graphic novel with the whole story and producers will start salivating. And the fact it's only a few issues means they could use the story as an outline and fill in a bunch of stuff to make it a series. Producers like to put their touch on everything… creatively.

So, when you are placing your orders for August and you work in Hollywood, you should go ahead an put this on your list. And even if you don't work in film / TV… it's a really cool read.