Far Sector #9 Review

Writer: N.K. Jemisin / Artist: Jamal Campbell / DC Comics Far Sector is consistently one of the best books on the shelves, and #9 just continues to prove that.  In this issue, Jo unearths a pretty big clue into the mystery of what’s going on in the City Enduring. The inhabitants of this planet take emotional suppressing drugs, which is supposed to make everyone more compliant and reduce the crime rate to zero. It mostly works, at least on paper. But the people are suffering silently. Which is why Jo was summoned to The City Enduring after its first murder in centuries. We’ve known that some people take another drug called Switchoff that allows them to feel emotions, and that’s probably how the murder happened, but there seems to be something more going on here. Jo’s partner and holographic being CanHaz, tells her that The City Enduring’s black market is run on memes. Yes, memes. Memes are often funny, and people on this planet aren’t supposed to be funny without Switchoff. This information is a string that Jo can’t help but pull. What’s so great about this issue is its balance. So much of it takes place in a diner where Jo and CanHaz talk and eat holographic food. Jo is also charging her ring so she doesn’t have the same resources that she normally has, which has forced her to slow down and assess things differently than she would if she could just point her ring at something and shoot. Nonetheless, it’s a great scene.

Jemisin does a good job of balancing dark themes …