Imagine you’ve just been killed. You’d imagine that’d probably be the worst moment of your life right? Well Image Comics Existence 2.0/3.0 takes a different and rather awesome yet confusing approach to death. 

Sylvester Baladine is a scientist. He’s the type of scientist that, depending on who you ask, could be both a genius and some kind of soulless maniac. He deals in what could be called black market science, stuff that breaks all perceived scientific ethics and morals if the money is right. His latest invention is consciousness transfer which allows the mind of one person to be layered over the top of another. This is where Existence 2.0/3.0 views death as a good thing. Sylvester is assassinated by a hitman, Marco, but with his last effort Sylvester manages to transfer his mind over to Marco’s. This gives Sylvester a new lease on life, but starts a head scratching-ly bizarre story about shady corporations, gangsters, and a search for just why Sylvester was assassinated.  

The story behind Existence 2.0/3.0 is certainly an interesting one that’s filled with a variety of unexpected twists and turns. The story features gangsters, assassins, militants, corporate criminals and a whole host of sci-fi influence to create a story that’s a rather enjoyable and crazy experience. One of the great things about the story is its handled almost like a book with differing points of view and jumps in time to leave the reader guessing where the story will head next. There is also a definite split between Existence 2.0 and 3.0, which results in two very different reading experiences. The only downside to the story is it can, at times, become confusing as the consciousness transfer idea begins to take centre stage and a few new and mysterious characters are introduced that leave you wondering who or what the hell is that guy.  

Sylvester Baladine is the highlight of the story. He narrates Existence 2.0 and his commentary is utterly hilarious yet very realistic. Over time you begin to accept Sylvester’s outlook on life and the benefits of the consciousness transfer program even if he is a little self absorbed. It’s disappointing that this character, who gives the story real energy and excitement, is (SPOILER ALERT) largely missing from Existence 3.0. While I appreciate the fact that they didn’t really try to replace him, the humor part is partially covered by the two corporate scientists, the second half of the story definitely lacked some of the spark without him. Without Sylvester’s comments and observations the second half seemed like your pretty standard crime/revenge comic. For that reason Existence 2.0, to me, felt like the stronger part of the story. You really related with Sylvester by the end and there wasn’t that same relationship and recognition with any of the characters in 3.0.  

Existence 2.0/3.0 is one of those comics that just gets the artwork right. It’s hard to put your finger on it but there’s something about the way the characters are drawn, the backgrounds realized and the action handled that leaves no doubt in your mind that this is how the story should look. There aren’t any steroid infused super soldiers just a very natural, realistic looking world filled with realistic looking people. This setting gives the consciousness transfer scenes and some of the abilities of certain characters even more impact as they seem so out of place and alien to this very realistic world. The way the action is handled is really good, you get the feeling that two of the main characters are assassins in the way they handle themselves in a fight and there are some truly impressive pages.  

Existence 2.0/3.0 was a thoroughly enjoyable read. While it was disappointing that the two stories had such a completely different feel the overall package was still impressive. Sylvester Baladine is a great character who you can’t help but like and I look forward to seeing where Existence 2.0/3.0, possibly Existence 4.0, heads in the future.