Matz and Luc Jacamon’s sci-fi series Cyclops has been great so far, but with issue 3 the stage is set and Matz is starting to do some really interesting things.  

Issue 3 sees our hero Douglas Pistoia gaining ever more popularity. Multicorps and the UN have come to an agreement on how to end the violence in Turkey and Doug is part of the final sweep before the plan goes into action. What should have been a simple mission turns life threatening for Doug as he attempts to rescue some stranded civilians and once the dust settles and Doug’s star rises even higher he has to wonder ‘was this a set-up?’ 

Matz is starting to weave his magic with the plot of Cyclops. The introduction of the journalist brings the moral voice that many readers are probably experiencing in their heads into the book. He’s asking some difficult questions of the UN and Multicorps and they don’t like it. The journo’s questioning also further highlights the comments Matz is making on propaganda and an all controlling media empire as they have the power to bury and belittle him if they so choose and if it looks like he’ll effect their bottom line.

Matz is also starting to delve deeper into the idea of privatizing the military through the journalist’s insinuations that the Argentina conflict may have been artificially stimulated. It’s a legitimate concern that a business that runs off war and selling footage of that war would actually be frightened by peace as it closes off its revenue stream and would need to ensure there is conflict somewhere to keep the dollars rolling in.  

Amongst all that Matz still has enough time to focus on Doug. He’s starting to believe there isn’t something right with Multicorps and after the events of issue 2 it seems natural that his worries would come to the forefront in this issue. We want to think of Doug as a good guy and after what he’s been through we’d like to think that all the fame in the world wouldn’t be able to mask his feelings about what’s really going on. 

Jacamon isn’t given much time to show off any flashy artwork in this issue. There isn’t a lot of action instead Matz is trying to build up the depth of the story, so the issue travels a long at a much slower pace, but it’s still a very good issue to look at. Jacamon is great at capturing facial expressions and body language so even scenes where characters are standing around talking look good. Interestingly Doug’s girlfriend looked more human this issue, yay, but I did notice some of the characters looked a bit shapeless at times when they were wearing a suit.  

Cyclops is probably one of the most politically relevant stories, across any platform, on the market today. Matz’s world mirrors our own so closely and should provide a warning for the future. Issue 3 delves even deeper into the ramifications of having a privatized military and media monopoly and is truly a great read.