THE BEAUTY, VOLUME 1 by Jeremy Haun and Jason A Hurley, writers with art by Jeremy Haun.(Image Comics, March 2016) Trade paperback, 164 pages. ISBN #1632155508 / 9781632155504. Collects The Beauty issues #1-6.
Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .
Modern society is obsessed with outward beauty. What if there was a way to guarantee you could become more and more beautiful every day? What if it was a sexually transmitted disease?
In the world of The Beauty, physical perfection is only one sexual encounter away. The vast majority of the population has taken advantage of it, but Detectives Vaughn and Foster will soon discover it comes at a terrible cost. Now, they'll have to find their way past corrupt poiticians, vengeful federal agents, and a terrifying mercenary out to collect the price on their heads.
Collects the first six issues of the critically acclaimed, Pilot Season winning series by writer/artist JEREMY HAUN (Constantine, Batwoman) and co-writer JASON A. HURLEY.
...a high concept that is, frankly, genius... - multiversitycomics.com
This is absolutely a book to check out. - all-comic.com
...one of the strongest introductions to a series in a long time... comicbookresources.com"
The clever foundation of this series is the sexually transmitted disease (STD) dubbed The Beauty. The side effects on infected humans become apparent quickly: "fat melted away, thinning hair returned, skin blemishes faded, and their facial features slimmed."
Sadly, we know all too well what would happen if such a disease became manifest in our self-centered United States and so do writers Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley as they turn the mirror on the vanity generation: "The Beauty quickly became a fad. Suddenly, perfect skin, flawless features, and a gorgeous body were only one sexual encounter away. . . . The only downside appeared to be a slight constant fever, but that didn't seem to slow many people down. . . . Now, over half the country's population has The Beauty, and the other half of the country hates them for it."
Fever is not the only side effect, and a far more deadly one takes longer to manifest in explosive fashion as internal body heat leads to spontaneous combustion.
There are several interesting directions the writers could take things from here. Rather than focus on the disease itself, the story turns into an action adventure as two detectives discover the terrible cost of The Beauty, and then get involved in assisting a resistance group develop a cure - - all the while trying to evade a manipulative corporation, corrupt politicians and federal agents, and a ruthless mercenary bent on eliminating all opposition.
While reading the first volume, I couldn't help comparing this to the current coronavirus pandemic. The story is certainly timely, despite being published in 2016. Those who are frightened by conspiracy theories or even worse allow themselves to be swayed by them will most likely be very disturbed by this story. Considering the path the story takes after that introduction to the disease, I'd have to consider The Beauty as falling into the rare category/genre of "political horror".
What is even more horrific than the rapid spread of The Beauty is the element of human depravity - - how persons of a certain mindset and greedy corporations will seize on a tragedy and try to capitalize on it, either for monetary purposes or to advance their selfish causes.
There is a sequence in the story that bothered me more than any of the depictions of violence throughout the volume: the calm demeanor in which the family heads of a biochemical corporation (who have developed a potential cure) talk about collateral damage from the disease in a chilling way. They calmly relate the story of their family's early cattle ranch being infested with mad cow disease and how they had to cull the sick ones out:
"We need to cull the weak ones, Timothy. The treatment is ready. We won't be releasing it just yet, though. No more hiding the truth of it. Let them see what they've wrought. Let them wait thirty days. Then we'll announce the treatment."
Even though the tale of The Beauty goes on for five volumes (at last count), Volume 1 ends in a way that could be considered a conclusion, and a satisfactory one at that, although there is still more than needs to happen. I plan to catch up to the story and remain optimistic. A captivating tale. Recommended.
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