Lifespan
"Faced with a collapsing world economy, fear of over population and the pending age of man-caused global warming, the UN proposed a controversial policy; The Rights of Balance Act. Later called Lifespan by the world media."
If there's a metaphor behind this story it's lost in translation. It takes many of the problems the world faces today and tries to cram them into one solution: Kill everybody!
Instead of earning and spending money, the characters in this world spend "time." If you want a fancy sports car, it'll cost you 2 years off your (expected, I assume) lifespan. Yeah, stop and think about that... would you be willing to die just to drive a sports car?
When I weigh the options I can't help but think about the possibilities that my nice new car would break down! Then what? I give up another year of my life to get it fixed? What if it's just a spark plug? Is that just a few days? A new CD costs about $14. That's a little over an hour and a half at the average job. So if I wanted the new Oasis cd it would cost an hour and a half? Unless I was a Senator or a CEO, then it's a minute or two... Are you catching on to the absurdity of this concept yet?
To balance this the writer creates a "Collection Agency" used to enforce the new law. So there's a guy in a nice suit and dark shades that kills all the people that "spend" too much. Didn't I say something about a metaphor or something? See how that got lost in the absurdity of the story?
The art, on the other hand, is somewhat more impressive. It almost reminds me of David Aja's work on 'The Immortal Iron Fist' only without the dynamic action shots and loose character mannerisms that helped to get me hooked on the book (at least while he was on it)
Overall, I can't stop thinking about the ridiculous concept. Suspension of disbelief is almost impossible and as hard as I try, I can't think of a single argument in favor of this 'Rights of Balance Act' to make me even consider that this could make a viable or entertaining story. Read More......
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