Sim Hell
Kei's up for her evaluation test
and she's not very happy about it - darn right aprehensive in fact!
Sim Hell is the third Dirty Pair
series from comic maestro Adam Warren and focus' on the fiery red
head Kei (where as Fatal : But Not Serious is Yuri's story). Trouble
Consultant Kei is up for evaluation which involves direct access to
the WWWA'S own Central Computer, an omnipotent yet mysterious computer
(which doesn't run on Windoze) that runs the WWWA and clears the Lovely
Angels after every mishap they are involved in. Kei is jacked into
the CC's vast virtual Simulation Network and is soon involved in a
conspiracy to destroy the CC, WWWA and Humanity by the nefarious agents
of the Bureau of Technological Regulation (BTR) - a secretive spooky
subdivision of the WWWA. Yuri comes to Kei's aid as her partners'
meat body in the real world is close to death as the BTR's plan takes
over the Evaluation facility. Can the Dirty Pair stop the BTR agent
Kevin Sleet and save the galaxy? Or will they destroy the virtual
and real worlds because, its just their luck?
Adam Warren again shows his mastery
of the science fiction genre by turning to the Virtual World for this
Dirty Pair adventure. With each page being a visual overload he weaves
a story dealing with Kei's over blown self-assurance to mask her insecurities,
introduces a smart villian - Kevin Sleet - who has ambition to rule
the galaxy and use nanotechnology to create a personal harem of Kei
and Yuri clones completely subservient to himself.
In addition to the VR world of
simulations and a VR view of what a File Manager would look like,
AW adds the theorised nanotechnology - machines as small as atoms
- as an integral part of the story to show us how dangerous this technology
could be.
Again, the character designs have
changed in Sim Hell drifting a little bit closer to 'traditional'
anime/manga but still being incredibly detailed and realistic. The
VR backdrop allows AW to experiment with situations, we see the Dirty
Pair in a great short fantasty setting (that seems to have been picked
up in a Dirty Pair Flash episode) , and in every possible state
of (un)dress as part of Sleet's harem.
A four part series, Sim Hell continues
to keep with the skimpy, smart and sexy style that AW is accustomed
for while maintaining a cerebral story and plot which so elusively
evades other comics.
