REVIEW: W0RLDTR33 #1 by James Tynion IV, Fernando Blanco, and Jordie Bellaire

W0RLDTR33 #1 

Writer: James Tynion IV

Artist: Jordie Bellaire, Fernando Blanco

Letters: Aditya Bidikar

Publisher: Image Comics

Release Date: April 26, 2023

Cover Price: $3.99

In 1999, Gabriel and his friends discovered the Undernet, a secret architecture to the Internet. They charted their exploration on a message board called W0RLDTR33.

Then they lost control. Someone broke into W0RLDTR33-someone who welcomed the violent hold the Undernet had on them. At great personal cost, Gabriel and the others thought they sealed the Undernet away for good.

They were wrong. And now they will know the meaning of PH34R.

The next major horror outing from multiple Eisner Award-winning writer JAMES TYNION IV (THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH, The Nice House on the Lake) and FERNANDO BLANCO (Detective Comics), along with Eisner-winning colorist JORDIE BELLAIRE and Eisner-nominated letterer ADITYA BIDIKAR, begins here!

Score:

★★★★1/2 (4.5/5)

As if the regular internet wasn't scary enough, James Tynion IV introduces the Undernet, a far more sinister and influential technology that was once dormant and now has been reactivated and weaponized for murder. In another stunning horror title, Tynion has tapped into some dark seeded realities and taken them to new extremes. The opening attack of the story is bone-chilling. Seen from the killer's perspective and in broad daylight the ease with which it occurs and the viciousness is disturbing. It sets the tone for what's at stake and exemplifies what this secret Undernet can do. But what is it? How does it work? That's still unclear. 

Part of what makes W0RLDTR33 so frightening is the real-world parallels of how the internet can influence people to do things, sometimes in harmful ways. Here, it's used to brainwash someone into mass murder, and simply looking at the Undernet can cause painful paralysis so there's an exaggerated impact but not too far from reality. Hate online has reached disturbing highs leading to attacks on minorities in real life so it's not unrealistic what W0RLDTR33 fictionalizes. There's more at play and Tynion purposely leaves readers to wonder what's happening and what's the deal with the deadly naked lady who's somehow involved. Tynion goes for the jugular from the onset and you're instantly appalled by the violence but intrigued by the mysterious aspects surrounding this malevolent technology. 

I can't help but draw comparisons to movies but the tension of a stoic killer going about his murderous spree recalls 'No Country for Old Men,' with the relentless confidence of 'Terminator' (particularly the police station scene), and the impending doom of technology run amok like in 'War Games.'Tynion elicits our worst fears with the precision of a puppeteer pulling the strings that trigger anxiety and dread.

Jordie Bellaire, Fernando Blanco, and Aditya Bidikar combine to produce an artistically balanced and dynamic story with unique touches that only a team like this can do. The versatility to rev up and slow down the pacing with deliberate panel choices along with alternating between one murder scene to the next while changing the tone of each completely with different color palettes helps to keep readers off-kilter. Tynion's script benefits greatly from the imaginative ways the artists extract so much overwhelming visceral emotion in shock and awe from the action. Even the juxtaposition of a beautiful naked woman administering extreme violence subverts any male gaze out of genuine fear and pants-soiling horror. 

W0RLDTR33 is not for the faint of heart. It's for mature readers in the strongest sense. Call it sci-fi horror or a techno-thriller, W0RLDTR33 is Tynion's modern horror masterpiece in progress because the first issue will grab readers by the throat. It takes the regular horrors of the internet to a new level where it can literally kill you. Good times ahead. This is a must-buy. Duh.