In Review: Plagued – The Miranda Chronicles 1

By Jeremy Briggs on October 13, 2014

Plagued: The Miranda Chronicles Chapter One is the beginning of a new science-fiction comic book series from Scottish creators writer Gary Chudleigh and artist Tanya Roberts.

Scotland in the future is a plague-stricken wasteland where witches are real albeit not accepted by what authorities there are. Thomas Mackie is a bounty hunter targeting witches for money because the witches are accused of creating the plague in the first place. Mackie’s current target is Miranda who he catches in the wastelands having stolen New Enoch city’s supply of plague medication, however Mackie is not the only person after the medicine. Saving Mackie from the raiders, Miranda takes him to the town of Titan where no one has the plague and reveals to him the truth of what is happening.

The third main character in this tale is Mackie’s dog Dex who he talks to but who also talks back to him. As this is not considered normal it is something that Mackie tries to hide from the rest of the world. Artist Tanya Roberts is a long time professional artist on Panini’s Star Wars: Clone Wars comic for which she inevitably uses a modern animation style and she continues this style for Plagued but gives it a sketchier edge. This style helps considerably with what is an adventure rather than a humour tale that includes a talking dog.

Writer Gary Chudleigh has created an interesting world that merges science fiction with fantasy and which has echoes of the Defiance TV series. While it has a few odd moments, such as technology being able to switch off a witch’s powers, the internal logic of the story holds together well with an intriguing deeper tale of a corporation deceiving the populace for their own benefit. What a shame that he has been let down by Black Hearted Press spelling his name incorrectly on the front cover when it is correct everywhere else in the comic.

Plagued: The Miranda Chronicles Chapter One sets up the intriguing ongoing tale of a post-apocalyptic world that merges technology with witchcraft and big business. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in future issues.

There are more details of Plagued at the Blacked Hearted Press website.

There are more details of Tanya Roberts’ work on her Deviant Art page.

There are more details of Gary Chudleigh’s work on the Obscure Reference Comics website.

Black Hearted Press will be attending the Lakes International Comic Art Festival in Kendal over the weekend of 17 to 19 October 2014 where their sales table will in the Comics Clock Tower.

Jeremy Briggs

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