Written by James Tynion IV
Art by Martin Simmonds and Various
Published by Image Comics
This book has always been one of the more interesting original creations by James Tynion IV with collaborator Martin Simmonds.
It has a very accessible story to the whole thing that makes it easy to dive in. Plus, it has an ongoing mythology to the book as well.
Basically, it is an updated and newer and sleeker version of the X-Files with very strong and powerful stories that never let up. This book has been continuously interesting since it’s inception, and now it is only digging much deeper with the stories being told.
This book is kind of a supplement to the main story.
The stories that are here were done for Tynion’s Subtack and they have a wide variety of characters and situations. It kind of gives us secondary stories for this world. It also lets Tynion go hog wild and have a blast with a lot of the legends out there. On top of all of this, it also serves as a nice entry point and a primer for the series if you haven’t read it. It gives you the flavor of the series without having to commit to the larger story Tynion is telling.
But they complement the main story perfectly as well and it really really like this universe is opening up.
There are a lot of interesting one page stories here. We see stories involving ghosts (there’s a really great one in here about ghosts!). We get to see one about close encounters with beings like aliens (and more!).
Every one of these stock “fictions” is spun in a new way. Tynion deconstructs these fictions and shows us not just why they work, but why people have become so obsessed with them. He also shows the importance and value that they bring for people. He shows why these myths or strange fictions have lasted so long and why these conspiracies keep popping up both in different places and in various different forms.
I love the various tidbits that I learned from this. It gives new layers to stuff that we have heard about our whole lives. I never really looked into these things. Tynion explored them for me in a way that I never expected to see from him.
And these little bits of story are full of plenty of things to digest. I have a feeling I’ll be revisiting this book as the main series goes on.
The “wild fictions” of the title shows us that in this series, if enough people believe in something, then it will manifest into reality. It has made for some really interesting circumstances in the series. A lot of the common myths has been actualized in the series because of people’s beliefs. The manifestations that are created show things like Bigfoot existing or that the earth is actually flat. Seeing these things add a nice layer for the book itself and the stories that come from it.
The theme that comes up a lot in this book is addiction. We get to see people addicted to these wild conspiracies so much that they make them real. It becomes wild to see as things go on in it.
A few issues of the main series also appear here and they use the short stories to complement each other. This feels a lot like something that is happening behind the scenes and gives the world we are reading about some true depth. I love the world building that is shown here and Tynion has truly built a world where anything can happen.
I enjoyed his superhero work for the most part, but this is something that is light years away from that. He has created something that transcends the medium and dives headfirst into trying something completely new. You just have to allow yourself to go along for the ride with it.
The writing by Tynion is really kind of remarkable here. I love the angle that he approaches everything with here and it works in a way that you can’t really explain. The artwork by Martin Simmonds has grown on me a lot and he has shown growth as well.
Overall, this is a welcome addition to one of the most continually great series on the stands.
RATING: A
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