Simulation Theory Issues #3, #4, #5 Review

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Okay, I didn’t think I would end up reading the final three issues of “Simulation Theory” by Curt Pires and Darryl Knickrehm, since the first two issues weren’t exactly engrossing. But they are free on my Kindle Unlimited subscription, and I ended up giving in to the temptation of finding out how things end in this sci-fi dystopian universe.

Here’s a quick recap – Issues #1 of “Simulation Theory” follow Ash, a young woman who joins “The Verse,” a virtual reality where people reside while their bodies are stored in cryo chambers. Ash is soon chased across the virtual world after her friend is “murdered,” leaving her with a mysterious encrypted box that holds damning secrets implicating Tim Irwin, the co-creator of “The Verse.”

The artwork remains the same – unimpressive, with a dull color palette that doesn’t do justice to the wild far-fetched plot of “Simulation Theory”. Ash is chased around by a bunch of cyber warriors who look like they are from the Dune universe for the encrypted data. Luckily, she manages to meet Solidad, the person she was looking for in issue #2, and the two try to figure out how to retrieve the encrypted files and defeat the bad guys.

It’s the usual “corporate greed versus humanist heroes” theme that dominates the comic book series towards the end. However, author Curt Pires does surprise readers in issue #4 with a dark twist of the horrifying corruption plaguing “The Verse.” If nothing else, the plot serves as an interesting think piece on the absurdity or viability of virtual reality as a definitive solution to the rising number of human-made problems in the real world.

Since the series is only five issues long, the creators rush through the story with a lot of clichés, failing to establish Ash as a memorable lead. Everything simply falls into place for the protagonist to expose the shocking crimes being committed by the co-creator of “The Verse” in the end. Despite its predictability, issue #5 turned out to be an engaging finale, and a lot more exciting than the rest of this comic book series.

I would recommend “Simulation Theory” only if you’ve run out of interesting titles to read and are really interested in reading futuristic fiction books about people living in the metaverse.

Simulation Theory is also on Kindle Unlimited.

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