I, Robot Meets Enemy Of The State By Way Of The Conversation In Gregory Suicide

The obsolete AI program Gregory wakes in a newly cloned body to a world now unfamiliar to him and is haunted by the memories of his past lives, each one ending in death by his own hand. On the path to discovering the truth about himself, Gregory slips into the trenches of two opposing forces that want to exploit him. In the end, he must take down an AI revolution before it wipes out humanity, and the key to doing so may only lie in the strange visions he has between life and death. A Dark Horse Original takes us into a frightening future!

At the current rate of technological advancement, it’s inevitable that machines will soon reach a level of intelligence that challenges or even surpasses human intelligence. The question isn’t whether machines will be capable of sentience, but when, and whether that sentience will be beneficial or detrimental to humankind.

In Gregory Suicide, Eric Grissom explores issues inherent to the AI discussion, but also throws in some interesting points about internet connectivity, social media, and Big Brother. Androids are everywhere, performing tasks in government, law enforcement, hospitality, military, medicine, and domestic labor. To keep from creeping people out who wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between humans and synthetics, their skin is dyed blue.
Except this one. Gregory is unique. He isn’t hooked to the morphic field that connects every other android in operation. He has strange memories that don’t quite click. He senses that he has a purpose, but that purpose isn’t immediately clear. Oh, and he offs himself over and over. Hence, the “suicide” bit.

Art and color by William Perkins are fantastic. The linework is simple, clean and neat. Perkins utilizes mostly monochromatic palettes with flashes of an off color here and there for emphasis. Blues for the current timeline, oranges for flashbacks. It works beautifully.

Gregory Suicide touches on points that have been previously raised by the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (yes, that’s a real thing), while also throwing up elements of The Matrix, Enemy of the State, and The Conversation. The twist is fantastic. You think you get it, and you might, but then you’ll question it right up to the final reveal.

Gregory Suicide, published by Dark Horse Books, was released on the 6th of December 2017. Story, post process color, and letters by Eric Grissom. Art, color, and cover by William Perkins.