Written By: Marc Bernardin & Adam Freeman
Art By: Rosi Kampe
Published By: Top Cow
So 2017 will forever be known as the year Taylor Swift put out two [editor’s note: three] crappy songs (and probably a bad album) and Top Cow released a book that’s pretty damn good. Literally nothing else of note will happen this year. Nope. Nothing at all.
Genius Cartel is interesting in that it does a bunch of things I normally hate from Top Cow books in a way that’s compelling. The main character is half a Mary Sue where she’s an overly-badass young adult who very rarely loses command of the situations she’s in, and if there’s a thing she can make explode, she’ll make it explode. Adults either fear or respect her. It feels like wish fulfillment to a high degree, yet only after the fact. During the book, where it counts, she’s actually pretty awesome.
She’s badass, but she isn’t annoying about it.
The key is that while Ajaye never feels in any danger, those around her always do. The few good companions she has are apt to die, and the people she’s trying to save aren’t immune to gunfire, regular fire, or mental breakdowns.
There are some very, very effective panels and plot points that show this off. Ajaye has her guns, she has her plans, and she has her calm, but no one else has any of that. Ajaye is all alone. There’s a high level of tragedy on display with an undercurrent of: Just because someone is strong enough to save us doesn’t mean we’re actually saved. A super soldier can only do so much for someone.
I have to wonder if all of this will take its toll on Ajaye. This is a book with actual stakes and an actual message at heart, and as strong as Ajaye is, I think she has a breaking point.
Genius Cartel is also not afraid to get dark, which can be a problem as Top Cow books often coming off as edgy–remember when Ashlar ripped out her own tooth? This book has all the makings of that, yet it never hits the mark. It’s gritty because the subject matter is gritty. The tone is consistent, and the few times it wavers for bits of levity feel appropriate. It doesn’t pingpong all over the place like some dark comedy.
Also, none of the cursing is censored.
And not to keep harping on Top Cow, but man I really like the art style here, which is also a change of pace. Most Top Cow books are boring to look at, but Genius Cartel has its own style that mixes colors and grit very well. The book is never drab, yet it’s also never pretty. It’s never clean looking. It all helps sell the setting and reinforce that what is going on has actual consequences.
All that being said, the book isn’t without a few flaws. It can get overly wordy at times, it doesn’t always handle exposition well, and in #3, there are some strange distortions with time that don’t make any sense. What the villains do and what Ajaye does never seem to line up right, even if the two sides are moving concurrently.
I’ll stand by Genius Cartel though. I think this is a good book. Some of that might be based too much on comparisons to other Top Cow books which generally aren’t, but the fact that this book can play with tropes I tend to dislike and come out ahead says a lot about the quality of the writing and artwork. I’m a fan.
