How much of a difference can 100 years make? While the span of a century may seem impossible to the individual, it’s but a blink of an eye for a species. And, the more adaptable a species is, the more time and favorable conditions help it bloom. But, no matter how successful a species may be, so long as they’re confined to a particular area, their success will inevitably reach a choke point. After all, X individuals require X resources. All ecosystems have a carrying capacity, so what happens when the ecosystem humans depend upon reaches its limit? Or rather, what happens when we think we’re getting to that point? In Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness – The Beginning, the fear of how our planet can cope with what appears to be a case of human overpopulation acts as the catalyst for some very dark days.
Written by acclaimed writer Keith R. A. DeCandido and with artwork by Carmelo Zagaria, the graphic novel features all 5 comics which originally ran from 2022 to 2024 in a neat little gore-filled package. Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness – The Beginning serves as a precursor to the 2021 animated series Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness which is streaming on Netflix (produced by TMS Entertainment and animated by Quebico).
Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness – The Beginning Synopsis
After a mysterious bombing at the Carnegie Museum of Art causes the dead to rise and threatens a mass outbreak, agent Leon Kennedy must work tirelessly alongside the Pittsburgh PD to combat a convoluted and subterfuge plot that reaches far deeper than he can hope to imagine.
Review
Acting as a direct prequel to the animated series Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness – The Beginning follows federal agent Leon Kennedy as he investigates events far more insidious than they first appear. While one may be tempted to think that Eco-fascism, large-scale conflicts over resource scarcity, and forced population campaigns are the setting of dystopian fiction novels. Those are things that are alive and well in the modern day.
Starting with what at first seems to be an act of domestic terrorism at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Arts, it takes readers just a few flicks to realize that the story in front of them has far more unknowns than a Taco Bell burrito. How a story is portrayed is as important as what it portrays. And here is where this graphic novel shines. Telling a concrete story with limited words and illustrations is a hard thing to do. But in both dialogue and personal connections, the story is quickly moved along by whoever is in the spotlight on the page. As agent Leon Kennedy and his local connections grow to understand the situation they find themselves in and the danger of fully uncovering its details, the subdued nature of their approach, even in the face of boisterous proclamations by their enemies, is a breath of fresh air. Be it a loss, success, or uncertainty, cooler heads prevail, not in a “stoicism is key” way. But, in the resigned nature of professionals who understand that added emotion leads to panic. And panic leads to more casualties.
The criminality element associated with the story has several hits, but occasional misses are also included. The fact that the roots of the attacks go far deeper than what the story covers is a plus, as it invests readers in wanting to know more about what’s to come. We fall into the usual pitfalls of a grandiose villain proclaiming their actions for the world to see. And while this may be accidental, it’s nonetheless unfortunate. What works so well about how things are carried out here is their low-key approach, and the need for the criminal element to boast about what they’re doing and what they’re going to do seemed out of place. Especially considering that, knowing that they can use the given situation to further advance their goals, keeping quiet and employing lower-scale methods would give them the same results without the excessive risks.
On Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness – The Beginning
Resident Evil and other franchises tend to stick with what works. And when well done, there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, giving fans what they want is usually a win-win situation. They’re happy, and the company reaps profits. But the material can easily fall stale once the same plot is overused, and zombies rising after a bio-terrorism attack isn’t the most innovative of ideas, but it’s one that, in this case, works. There’s no need to accept convoluted plot twists to accept the flow of the story; from point A to point B, it just makes sense. The pacing is perfect, the artwork is as gritty as the story and that’s a good thing. The humanity of it all, the little nuances that are usually overlooked with human emotions in works of fiction are easy to pick up and that’s not only commendable, it’s worthy of praise. Where the novel fails is in the excess of the villains, but fiction as a whole seems to love the kinds of villains who are more talkers than doers. Overall Resident Evil Infinite Darkness: The Beginning is a welcomed addition to the franchise.
TOKYOPOP’s Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness – The Beginning is now on sale. As part of their promotional campaign, for a limited time, any graphic novel/manga purchase from the TOKYOPOP website includes a special full-color postcard – as long as you get it before May 31st.
©CAPCOM CO,. LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Anime Corner was given a free copy of Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness – The Beginning in exchange for a review.
The comments are temporarily unavailable for maintenance.