Eight billion genies by charles soule

Illustrated by Ryan Browne
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The population of the planet Earth reaches eight billion, and out of thin air pop in genies - one for each person. For the group in the bar, a quick wish to keep the building and its inhabitants safe means they are spared some of the horrors of what happens in the first eight seconds. For a few years, they’re fine being inside and letting the people destroy themselves, but soon, some start to venture out into the world. They find a few mega-cities at war with one another, a few safe havens, like for artists or families, and slowly, the group start to use their wishes to find a place for themselves in all the chaos.

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The desolation and small group of survivors that start off in this comic remind me a lot of Independence Day, but Soules has managed to capture the craziness of modern society as well. As cartoony and off-the-wall some of the wishes are, they also make sense to anyone who is participating in society. The presence of a genie for each person quickly results in chaos, which seems entirely believable and a reasonable assumption of how humanity would react to having that sort of power.

This setting really allows Browne's artwork to shine because of the lunacy of some of the wishes and their products. The genies themselves are designed to reflect the people they belong to, but they're still individual and fairly adorable. Browne's characters have a tendency to be a little exaggerated, but fans of this creative duo will find some familiar faces and designs from other titles.

​Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 10-12

Publisher: Image Comics
Publication Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 9781534323537 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: High School, Comicbooks, Action Adventure, Magic, Survival, Family, Image Comics