Graphic Novel Review – Eight Billion Genies by Charles Soule, Ryan Browne (5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Graphic Novel/Science Fiction
Length: 246 pages
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN-13 : 978-1534323537
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Gift
Rating: 5/5 stars
“If you had one wish… what would you wish for? What if everyone else on the planet had one wish too? That’s Eight Billion Genies. Eight seconds after magical genies grant every person on earth one wish, the world is transformed forever…and that’s just the beginning!”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got this as a Mother’s Day gift.
Thoughts: I ended up really enjoying this. This is an awesome concept that was executed incredibly well. It is a mixture of humor, sci-fi, horror, and paranormal. The illustration was fantastic, and the story was amazing.
Once the population of Earth reaches 8 billion, everyone gets a genie which will grant them one wish, and only one wish. The genies have some leeway on how to handle conflicting wishes. The owner of the bar we start in uses his wish right away, which is to protect the bar from any wishes happening outside of the bar. This is a very smart wish since things go completely apocalyptic once everyone starts using their wishes. Suddenly, both the human and genie population are dropping…drastically. This series then proceeds to follow the story of those left in the bar as they first try to wait things out and then start to go their own ways.
The illustration and story are top-notch and I really enjoyed them. There are rules around wishes, but I love that the funny little genies can take liberties with the wishes, especially when wishes conflict each other. Each chapter starts with how much time has passed since the genies entered the world, how many humans are left alive, and how many genies are left. This turns something that initially seems hilarious into something darker as we watch the human population numbers tick down.
The story ends up encompassing a huge range of time, which is intriguing and more is revealed about the purpose of the genies as you go. This was just incredibly well done and I can’t recommend it enough.
My Summary (5/5): Overall I absolutely loved this and am so happy that I got it to read. The illustration and story here are fascinating. What really drives the story though, is the concept being explored here and the decision that people make around their wishes. As the story progresses, we are drawn deeper and deeper into theymystery of why the genies appeared. This was fun, horrific, and thought-provoking. I adored it and would highly recommend it!
