Non-Humans is an ambitious new mini-series from Image. It’s ‘Blade Runner meets Toy Story’ according to the description, so take that as you will. Really, it’s these mini-series that truly shine. Great writing, great art, and most of all, an engaging story. Image doesn’t usually disappoint with their minis. (Just look at Dancer, Rebel Blood, and Debris.) So going into Non-Humans, I expected a really interesting read. There’s not really much of a Toy Story vibe, more like iRobot. Non-Humans #1 is a great start to what looks like an intriguing mini-series.

Here’s the official description from Image:

Los Angeles, 2041 – it’s twenty-six years after a NASA probe brought back a strange disease causing many of our familiar toy-like objects to come to life. This is a new world order where cute and fearsome creatures fight for their right to exist in a world that fears them – Blade Runner meets Toy Story.

As said in the description, the year is 2041, twenty-nine years into the future. A disease has somehow brought forth inanimate objects to life. It makes for an interesting concept. What I like is how well established this world is. This isn’t an origin story, everything has been established beforehand. This is one of those stories where you understand as it goes on. You’re thrown into a world with no TV or Internet, and these ‘non-humans’ roam around. This isn’t The Walking Dead where the things are mindless creatures devouring everything in their path, the Non-Humans are actual characters. For the most part they just want to be accepted and live normally like everyone else. It presents an interesting question that makes you think after you’ve put the comic down, do these things truly deserve to be treated as living things that buy and own property, or since technically they don’t have a ‘soul’ or heart, they shouldn’t be? It’s comics like these that give the medium  a good name.

Our main focus is Oliver Aimes, a detective. Obviously when you have a mini-series, the main character has to be interesting, since a mini-series is too short to develop him/her. The story does a great job with this guy, he’s portrayed not as a ‘perfect hero’ but an imperfect being who doesn’t seem to like the Non-Humans. The interactions in this story is good and pretty dramatic, especially with him and his son. Most people will probably find it strange that a Victoria’s Secret mannequin come to life is dating a 14 year old kid, I know I do. That’s just the beginning of the strange and dark world in this story. The art fits the tone pretty well, the only off scene was when Aimes shouted about the assassin, his facial expression did not match the scene.  The cover is pretty good, that doll reminds of a certain other killer doll…there are some pretty interesting characters, I’m talking about the Non-Humans, such as Buddy the Bear. Then there’s Spice (the mannequin, has surprisingly a lot of character) and her two friends. The art makes the one called Peg extremely creepy, like something out of The Grudge.

Overall, a great start to this rather intriguing mini-series. There’s so much happening, I’m not sure how it could all be contained into just four issues. The main character is pretty interesting, but really it’s the world around him that’s the engaging part. The Non-Humans are pretty cool, with many of them being actual characters in the story. For just $2.99, it’s better than a lot of the $3.99 comics you see on the stands. Based on everything I’ve said, I hope I’ve encouraged you to give this issue a shot, it’s worth the read, as I’m sure the next three issues will be.

4.5/5