Terrorwar #1: The Future is Dark and Full of Terrors

Written by Eisner Award winner Saladin Ahmed, Terrorwar is set in a post-apocalyptic future where the last one hundred million humans take refuge in a crowded megalopolis called the Blue City. Far from a utopian paradise, this sprawling municipality pays loving homage to neo-noir classics like Blade Runner, where multicultural slums are overshadowed by beautiful structures looming in the distance to remind the reader that class inequality is an ever-present factor. In a subtle nod to Orwell’s 1984, this thematic element is reinforced at the onset of the narrative when the protagonist, Muhammad Cho, informs the reader that only the wealthy can turn off the endless streams of video propaganda that permeate urban existence. 

The theme of social inequality – told from the bottom up – is embodied by Muhammad Cho, a “Terrorfighter” whose meager upbringing in a Blue City ghetto was marked by drug abuse and criminal behavior. The ability to fight the mysterious Terrors, seemingly random and violent apparitions that take the form of the victim’s greatest fears and incinerate with a single touch, is randomly bestowed on people who can create brain bullets to eliminate these threats. (With so many sci-fi references and throwbacks in this story, I’m hoping that “brain bullets” are a Tenacious D reference – but I know that is more wishful thinking than reality.) 

Cho and his team of Terrorfighters are working class which is apparent from the narration and dialogue. For a book with a high degree of social commentary, it’s refreshing that our narrator doesn’t speak from a pedestal with stilted neo-noir aloofness, a continuous string of clever and artful musings, or overwrought techno-babble. For these blue-collar workers, cynicism is a veneer for their deep appreciation and concern for their teammates (think space marines from Aliens). With so many big themes packed into a single issue, writer Saladin Ahmed’s down-to-earth narration and dialogue make this story work. 

That being said… it’s Dave Acosta’s pencils that allow this story to soar! Acosta’s extensive experience drawing sci-fi and horror is fully displayed in Terrorwar. Showcasing violent apparitions that take on the appearance of childhood fears is not an easy visual to pull off, but Acosta never fails to make them exciting and menacing. As a reader, I’m excited to see what his visual creativity produces issue after issue for these Terrors. 

The most exciting aspect of Terrorwar is Acosta’s gift for rendering a cityscape that draws inspiration from the most visually arresting sci-fi cinema of the 1980s. Many cyberpunk artists fall into the trap of making their dystopian settings look like glamorous nightclubs where most readers would never make it past the doorman. Acosta never loses the through line and draws a landscape that is both visually arresting and evocative of the poverty and claustrophobia that makes Terrorwar feel like a cohesive mix of words and pictures.

Blue City is a place that is exciting to behold but never comes across as a place where you would want to live.