Scientists attempting to genetically modify a plant to grow very, very quickly on limited resources while navigating interpersonal relationships and external pressures from anti-GMO groups as well as their own funders. When the project lead publicly over-promises, emergency measures to support her claims result in unforeseen, catastrophic consequences.

The writing in this comic is good. I appreciate that the time-consuming nature of scientific research is stressed in this comic. I also enjoyed the parallel stories being told: Dan, Violet, and Michelle. They provide good coverage of the events as well as offering interesting characters to relate to. That said, it reads a little heavy-handed on the anti-GMO bias, but writers are allowed to have opinions, too, and Hawkins claims he was trying to provide even coverage.

It would work wonderfully as the background to a larger story set some time after everything has gone up in the conflagration. I kind of wondered while reading if that’s where it was eventually heading. After finishing the book, however, and the many pages of background information provided by writer Matt Hawkins on GMOs, natural disasters, journalism, and a host of other topics, it is clear that he made an effort as a writer to avoid any narration and will likewise probably not be interested in extending the series beyond an exploration of related topics. The next volume, apparently, is going to be about insects. I shudder.

Linda Sejic’s art is very good. The backgrounds are well-done, adding depth and information to the characters without distracting from the action in the fore, and the characters themselves are all distinctly depicted in an expressive, realistic style. Some of the characters look a good deal like ones readers might recognize from her other comics, but that’s not an issue for me. I enjoy her art.

Since my library seems to have copies of these comics, I will probably end up reading whatever else was written in this series, but I have a feeling it wasn’t a long run. Slice of life disaster comics seem like they’d have a pretty limited audience, even though it’s almost exactly like what people flock to movie theaters to watch. I would probably watch a movie of this comic and, like I said, I’ll read whatever sequels my library can get me.