Delegates #1-4
Tina Cesa Ward and Bin Lee (Writers), Sabrina Deigert and Felipe Cunha (Artists), Leigh Walls and Doug Gabark (Colourists)
ComiXology
February 7, 2018
Delegates is an ongoing series that focuses on issues of what it means to be human. The series, created by Tina Cesa Ward and Bin Lee, focuses on the fictional country of Fulawodaabe and its civil unrests. While labelled as science fiction, ultimately this series is more political thriller.
In science fiction, one of the most common elements (or tropes) is the inclusion of a new technology, or novum. In Delegates, that technology is, spoiler alert, similar to the tech perfected by Nathan (Oscar Isaac) in Ex Machina: artificial intelligence. In order to stifle the civil unrest that Fulawodaabe experience at this point in current events, Pnyx, a military contractor, initiates a delegates program which places androids in positions of power in several countries in order to settle civil unrests.
For the first issue, Ward combines creative forces with artist Sabrina Deigert, with later issues including artwork done by Felipe Cunha. While Deigert’s art style sets a precedent for what we as the audience anticipate for the rest of the series to look like, ultimately, Cunha’s work is what draws us in more and more. While Deigert’s art is impeccable and hyperrealistic, Cunha’s more abstract style allows us to connect more with the source material whereas Deigert’s art gives us the ability to identify with the characters written and later on empathize with them as the situation goes from bad to worse.
One of the weakness I feel that the first issue had was when it came to the rebel forces storming the capital. The audience knows that they’re supposed to care about a potential military coup, but we’re never really shown or told as to why we are supposed to care. Showing such a hand so early loses some of the punch of a few of the later scenes, but there are so many good moments of tension and solemnity that pop out to the audience that this lack of judgment can be forgiven.
While the first issue is a slower read with Ward relying more on telling than showing, later issues become more and more cinematic. Because there is such a heavy element of telling to start the series off with, the first issue becomes difficult to read and creates a sense of slogging through so much heavy material in order to get to the Oh My God moment that echoes, and even rivals, Alex Garland’s Ex Machina plot twist.
Overall, Delegates is an incredibly well-planned and well executed comic series. Offering something new and refreshing as opposed to having simply another run of the mill sci-fi adventure, it intelligently crafts and reconciles our persisting ideas of what correlates humanity with humanity.
