Back in September, Image Comics called upon the talents of anatomist, professor, and broadcaster Alice Roberts to direct readers how to pick up Surgeon X, Sara Kenney, John Watkiss, and Jared K. Fletcher’s poignant and timely look at a dystopian future in which antibiotics can no longer be counted on to protect us against the germs that can bring us to our knees.
With the first collection of Surgeon X: The Path of Most Resistance available digitally tomorrow and on sale May 2nd, Image and the team behind the book have called upon the vocal talents of Jessie Banks, former band member of Chung King, and a soundtrack by Oliver Kenney to give a taste of what readers can expect from the first volume. Check out this new trailer for the upcoming compilation and prepare yourself for an outbreak of goosebumps.
Banks’ performance, overlaid snippets from the marred future of Surgeon X, creates the right mix of haunting sadness and cautionary warning that made the first arc so gripping. There’s a chilling quality that gives readers a glimpse of exactly what to expect from the feel and the scope of the story Kenney, Watkiss, and Fletcher have brought to life.
Surgeon X: The Path of Most Resistance, brought to you by Sara Kenney, John Watkiss, and Jared K. Fletcher, can be bought digitally tomorrow and in paperback on May 2nd.
From the official press release:
SURGEON X
Now Available for the First Time in Paperback
New “Trial and Error” Digital Special Debuts
Extreme circumstances call for extreme medicine.
What if we lived in a world of antibiotic resistance and rationing, where the superbugs have won?
SURGEON X Vol 1: The Path of Most Resistance (Image Comics / color / 208 pages / collecting issues #1-6 / $14.99/£13.99 pbk on sale May 2, 2017 everywhere books are sold / $9.99 digital on sale April 26, 2017) is now available for the first time in paperback. Written by debut comics writer Sara Kenney, documentary, factual drama and animation filmmaker (Angels and Ghosts, BBC, Channel 4, Discovery) with art by the late, master storyteller John Watkiss (Sandman, Conan, Deadman) and edited by Karen Berger, editor of Berger Books, an imprint of Dark Horse, and founding editor of Vertigo Comics, Vol. 1 collects the first story arc of the acclaimed medical thriller that incorporates politics and family drama seamlessly. This is John Watkiss’ last published work and also features some of his incredible charcoal development drawings.
Set against the backdrop of a medical apocalypse in near-future London, Kenney weaves a story of ordinary people from all walks of life striving to survive in a society constantly threatened by ever-looming disease and a government headed by the Lionheart Party.
It’s the year 2036 and there are great futuristic advancements available in medicine and surgery, yet a simple infection can kill. Rosa Scott, a brilliant and obsessive surgeon becomes Surgeon X, a vigilante doctor who uses experimental surgery and black market drugs to treat patients. As Surgeon X, Rosa develops a godlike-complex, deciding who will live and who will die. Risking everything to save lives, she believes that to survive in this compromised world her own moral code is the one she must follow, ultimately warping her Hippocratic Oath to suit her own decisions—even if it endangers those closest to her.
As Berger says, “[SURGEON X] explores the consequences of a world where the bedrock of modern medicine has crumbled, where people must adapt to a dangerous new reality, and where the lead character’s subversive nature makes us question our own sense of ethics and morality. Sara’s vision is frighteningly real and beautifully executed.”
The first arc of SURGEON X was funded by a Society Award from Wellcome Trust, an independent global charitable foundation dedicated to improving health. They support bright minds in science, the humanities and the social sciences, as well as education, public engagement and the application of research to medicine.
In addition to the collection, also debuting on Wednesday, April 26th is the all-new digital exclusive SURGEON X SPECIAL: Trial and Error (Image Comics / color / 10 pages / $.99 / April 26, 2017) by Sara Kenney with art and cover by Warren Pleece (Incognegro). This standalone story set in Bristol, England in 2037 introduces Sun Walker and asks the question, when someone you love is dying, how far would you go to save them? Rosa Scott helps her cousin, Sun, a chemical scientist with a risky plan that could kill or cure. Available only on comiXology and Kindle, the Trial and Error Special was funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
The SURGEON X comic book series is informed by hundreds of conversations with scientists, physicians, historians, economists, ethicists & philosophers to create this deeply disturbing, yet authentic future world. Please see interview opportunities, events and bios below.
For more about SURGEON X head over to: www.SurgeonX.co.uk.