Review: AfterShock Comics’ New Sci-Fi Eco-Horror ‘We Live’ #1

The year is 2084 and the world has changed. Wracked by calamities and crawling with monsters, the last remaining humans face a dangerous existence.
And now, the Earth has been sent a message from the deepest reaches of space – a dark countdown to the extinction of all humanity. But there is hope! Five thousand children will be rescued by these mysterious message-senders.
This is the journey of Hototo, one of the lucky five thousand – but only if his teenage sister, Tala, can safely deliver him to the nearest Beacon before time runs out.

In We Live #1, the human race is on its heels, having suffered greatly at the will of a severely pissed off planet. Climate change and accelerated mutation in plants and animal species decimated the global population. Humans responded in the way they usually do. They fought. Each other. Ended up brutally culling their own numbers down to 10%, which then dispersed into the nine remaining habitable spaces on the planet. Things look grim. 
Bring on the aliens to save the day. Sort of. Five thousand kids have an opportunity to start over somewhere off-planet, offered by some unseen mysterious alien savior. It’s an ominous proposal, but the hope of salvation apparently outweighs any trepidation.

This story has just about everything you could ask for. Inaki and Roy Miranda bring a great mix of science fiction and post-apocalyptic eco-horror, but the thing that really stands out here is the sibling dynamic between Hototo and his sister Tala. This thing will kick you right in the stupid feels, two or three times.
The art by Inaki Miranda and Eva De La Cruz is absolutely stunning. The deceptive simplicity of Miranda’s linework and De La Cruz’s bright, vivid palette hide the razorblades just under the surface.

First chapters are difficult business. There’s all that exposition, and the introductions. It’s really hard to nail it all. That being said, this is just about a perfect opening chapter. Exposition feels natural. Characters have a lot of depth and credibility. The big mystery is foreboding and heavy, but doesn’t diminish the present predicament. I honestly can’t think of a single thing to gig this book on.

We Live #1, AfterShock Comics, 14 October 2020. Written by Inaki Miranda and Roy Miranda, art/cover by Inaki Miranda, color by Eva De La Cruz, letters with Dave Sharpe, variant covers by Dustin Nguyen, Jorge Corona, Peach Momoko, and David Sanchez, logo by Dave Sharpe.