WRITER: DAN ABNETT | ARTIST: MARK HARRISON | PUBLISHER: 2000 AD | RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 3RD
Set in 2045, the Global Exo Segregation Zone (better known as the Grey Area) located in Arizona is a holding centre for aliens from outer space who want to visit Earth. The aliens consist of a wild mixture of entities who are kept under control by heavily armed Exo Transfer Control (ETC) squads. One ETC officer is the hapless Captain Adam Bulliet. Not only does he have a flirtatious relationship with Officer Birdy, but he also has the more worrying problem of dealing with the Arakshu. Adam murdered one of their own and they seek revenge, but they aren’t satisfied with just killing him (eventually) they intend to make the whole human species suffer.
Even from the beginning the Arakshu show they are powerful by appearing to Adam in the form of the seductive Birdy through the use of, you guessed it, a Solid Light Disguise Field. (Ok you probably didn’t guess it.) As a further complication, Adam is lumbered with Falex Al an emphatic Pradix species alien who wants to escape from being the living passport for a Rithuan alien. Then there is another issue: some of the aliens in the Grey Area are suddenly receiving disturbing holy visions that indicate God is going to appear very soon.
Are these symptoms of mass psychosis, hallucinations, or psychic visions of something that is powerful and real? It isn’t long before we find out – a huge spaceship appears in Earth’s orbit that causes massive public disorder across the world. This ‘God Star’ arrives at the Grey Area while smaller versions of it appear throughout the planet. Poor old Adam is tasked with making first contact with the occupants of this mysterious craft. First of all, he discovers through interviewing a Rookuk alien that the newly arrived God is actually an incredibly evil deity. Although the Rookuk originally worshipped this God, they soon had to drop him into a star to kill him off, and he advises Earthlings should do the same before they are all destroyed.
As can be gathered, this is a fast-moving story filled with a rich tapestry of alien species and far-flung ideas. This is accompanied by Mark Harrison’s equally dynamic artwork that brings the aliens and the Grey Area to life. It also has some neat deadpan humour: when asked about the situation onboard the God Star, Adam replies “Well, it’s enormous, and it’s going to eat the planet, but we’re inside it and hope to have a chat.”
Altogether an exciting apocalyptic adventure that certainly does take us a long way home.
