Eight Billion Genies #1 (of 8)

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Fading Away: The genies fizzle away like a mirage after granting their person's wish. It seems to be a form of death for them, as their population gradually goes down along with humanity's as more and more wishes are made. And yet, the genies remain excited and willing to grant as many wishes as they can, going so far as to nullify wishes that would negate other wishes. Genies also suffer this fate if their person dies before they can make a wish, only lamenting that the wish never got to be used. Gone Horribly Right: Several wishes end up this way. For instance, a girl is shown wishing that her parents would "burn in hell", only to look on in horror as her parents are burned away until nothing's left but their hands. The Man in the Moon: The Moon now has a face, a huge mouth filled with teeth, and eats anything that gets close enough to it. Who Would Be Stupid Enough?: Ernest asks why anyone would wish for a volcano to erupt, much less eight of them all named "Mount Doom", complaining about how heavy that Foreshadowing is. In the same scene, Ed asks why a child would wish for Robbie's school to be turned into chocolate. Robbie's genie responds that they don't try to explain wishes, they just grant them. I'll be that guy. The one guy who isn't as in love with this series (yet) as everyone else is. I am reading it an issue at a time so I am reserving the right to like it in the future after I learn more but I am basing this off the first issue.

One of the genies mentions that a woman wished for a lightsaber, only to accidentally set downtown Detroit ablaze since she never wished for the skill to use it. Every individual on Earth gets a genie capable of fulfilling a single wish. A fraction of the 8 billion people make instant wishes, while others choose to hold onto their genies for years. Predictably, the wishes trigger wild consequences, which lead to a rapid decline in the global population. I always tell people that the most creative and original storytelling is being done in comic books. It seems like the most innovative ideas are being explored in this medium. Eight Billion Genies is the latest thing I've read that reminded me of that. Starting on the fateful day when 8 billion cute tiny genies pop out of nowhere and latch themselves to each living person on Earth, granting each person one single wish, it then proceeds to tell the story of the craziness that transpires after that. At Emerald City Comic Con in 2015, Ryan Browne had a "drunk[en] idea" about "What happens when everyone on Earth gets a genie at once?", which became the genesis for Eight Billion Genies. [13] That's the question on everyone's mind when eight billion genies, one for every person on Earth, materialize out of thin air to grant humanity's wildest dreams. Within minutes, the world is turned upside down as billions of people decide to have their fantasies become reality.On June 15, 2022, Eight Billion Genies #2 was released. [9] This second issue featured two variant covers, one illustrated by Browne (Cover A) and the other illustrated by Andrew MacLean (Cover B). [10] Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Vlad the Impaler was a genie in human form with Complete Immortality, in a period where he decided to see how brutal and depraved he could be as he conquered as much as he could. His cannibalism and regeneration is what inspired the story of Dracula. Third - okay the premise didn't grab me but what about the characters we are focusing on? Again - nothing interesting yet. We have the bartender who seems to know way too much. He is the writer's hand of god so far. He instantly wishes to be protected from any other wish. Who does that? It is super smart but who would think to do that instantly? He might be revealed to be a god later but right now he is a bartender who seems to act for the writer. Then we have a boy and his drunk dad. Okay. And a band who has a bit of a love triangle brewing. Nothing wrong with that but so far, not interesting for me.

Deathbed Confession: When Robbie's superhero friends are killed by a particularly powerful supervillain, Robbie has a breakdown because at 12 years old, he's too young to process all this death and destruction. The seemingly-adult King Power tries to comfort Robbie by admitting with his dying breath that he's only 11. Half the Man He Used to Be: Wang shoots an energy blast from his Power Fist and swipes it across a vampire's torso to cut him in half. Billion Genies is an eight-issue comic book series created by writer Charles Soule and artist Ryan Browne. It explores the chaotic consequences of everyone on Earth receiving a genie and one wish at the same time. The series takes readers on a wild ride filled with comedic science fantasy and entertaining adventures. About the authorThe Bada-Bangs gain admission to Fun City through clever use of their remaining genies, after spending several years in a remnant town that abruptly vanishes (including the band's romantic partners) when its host human dies. Alex and Daisy move past their baggage and get married, and Brian finds a new love in Fun City. And while Brian does die relatively young in his 50's, it at least wasn't from a violent skirmish or wish gone awry, and the nature of his own wish leaves Daisy immortal when Alex dies twenty years later. Crazy-Prepared: Will converted the basement of his bar into an armored bunker with a little bit of everything, from food to supplies to weapons in case he needs to hunker down. He figured that he needed to be prepared for a wildfire after watching all the friction being created all over the world even before the genies came to Earth.

At a C2E2 "Saturday spotlight" in 2021, Browne and Soule discussed the then-recently-announced comic series with moderator John Siuntres. [17] Wishplosion: This turns out to be the point of the whole thing. The genies will keep returning to Earth for as long as its sentient population collectively feels unfulfilled before reaching a certain size. Every time they do, the person with the last genie has the exclusive right to wish for something that resets the whole thing with different conditions. There is a rumor amongst the genies of an "ultimate wish" that'll permanently satisfy all human needs and desires forever, ending the cycle of genies, but none of them know what it is; a single genie gets left behind to live on the new world each time to try and figure it out. It turns out to be for "everyone to love the way they want to be loved". This results in an Earth with a population of eight billion, but no genies this time around. Daisy, lead vocalist for the Bada-Bings. It's implied that her tontine wish (with Alex and Brian) made her immortal as long as she doesn't use the wish. Reality Warper: The genies can make practically anything happen so long as the wishes are worded properly. Their abilities can completely ignore conventional logic and physics, making functional Humongous Mecha, giving people superpowers, and even turning the moon into a ravenous Genius Loci. They even mentioned offhandedly how they could create hundreds of new realities to accommodate the wishes of leading politicans to have their countries rule as a superpower, but they call it far too much work to do so, instead choosing to anull all those wishes. Exact Words: Unusually for a work about genies, this is averted/subverted - unspoken intent is taken into account, and it's this - along with potential conflicts with other wishes - that causes unintended consequences. Exact wording, however, can be used to work around this - the lawyers of the Exactitude haven end up making a business out of writing wishes for the leaders of other havens.While Wang and Lifeng are discussing what to do with their wishes, their genies pass the time by thumb wrestling, only for Lifeng's to cheat by increasing the size of their thumb. Benevolent Genie: While the genies are amoral at best given how they're happy to grant blatantly destructive wishes like the carasaurus or turning a person into a vampire, they're never malicious about what they do. They're also happy to be consulted for context and advice up to the point that the wish is actually made and will fulfill a wish to the full spirit of the wish rather than the letter of the wish. But they can still act as a Literal Genie if a wish is ill-thought out and will not care about the consequences unless they're "boring" or would deny others their wish.

Robbie's superhero costume contains tons of references to other famous superheroes. His right arm is covered with metal like Colossus, he's got a shoulder pad akin to a '90s Anti-Hero, and Utility Belt like Batman. He even shouts "Up, up, and away!" like Superman while stepping out the door.Fountain of Youth: Unsurprisingly, a common wish among the elderly is to be young again. While a simple and helpful wish, it unfortunately deprives these folks of a wish that could have protected them from the rest of the chaos. Oh, Crap!: The genies consider eight years ( What else?) to be the age of reason at which point children are capable of making a wish. Naturally, every parent in the world is horrified by what that could entail. In fact, one of the core tenets of El Futuro is that children can't make a wish without their parents' permission until they're 25. And given the trouble adults get into with their wishes, this concern is very justified. Eternal Recurrence: It isn't the first time that genies have comes to Earth. Every time the sentient global population reaches a certain point, usually eight billion, the amount of want causes their return as some sort of cosmic release valve. Then a period of chaos ensues as everyone makes wishes until the last person left wishes for a new world, and the process begins anew. The only out is a mythical "ultimate wish" that'll satisfy the need for wishing forever.