Writing this preview has a great deal of irony as this year's debate topic comes to a close (for us in Kansas at least). This year we've been debating increasing security cooperation with NATO on: Cybersecurity, Biotechnology and/or Artificial Intelligence. This has been a challenging topic especially for my first year debaters, because in addition to teaching everyone HOW to debate AND how US-NATO relationships and policies operate...these three sub-areas of the topic have been really f-ing difficult to grasp as a college-educated adult, let alone trying to teach these topics to students with varying desires to learn about emerging technologies....
What does this have to do with today's quick look? I present:
Mosely #1 (Boom! Studios)
By: Rob Gulliory, Sam Lotfi, Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Releases: January 4, 2023
This five issue mini is coming to you from the brilliance of Rob Guillory (Farmhand, Chew) and the spine tingling art and colors from Sam Lotfi (Harley Quinn) and Jean-Francois Beaulieu (I Hate Fairyland). I'm more familiar with Gullory and Beaulieu, however getting to peek at a couple preview pages, the creative team sings a beautiful song in the opening pages.
In the solicit, Boom! describes Mosely as:
"...chronicling one man’s attempt to take down the mighty idols of technology that have captivated the world in the near future...
In the hyper-technological world of the later 21st century, Mosely is a bitter old janitor on a mission from a higher power—to unleash holy Hell upon the “too big to fail” Tech Gods. Can one man bring down the AI powers who’ve used their vast influence to oppress an all too complacent human race (and hopefully win back the favor of his estranged family while he’s at it)?"
This story is compelling to me for several reasons. First, ya'll know I'm a sucker for dystopian/technology books. Second, I love the "anyperson" style hero. So, if a janitor is ready to take down the gods of technology and AI systems, I'm here for it (this may be my fantasy after researching "ethical AI" for almost a year now...). Thirdly, I'm stuck in loving the cliché of "maybe they'll want me back if I'm great" style stories in terms of either familial or romantic relationships...and this book checks all three boxes with zeal! I'm thoroughly excited to check out this title in the new year!