Issue #1 begins in March of the year 2000 (fourteen years in the future, by the comic's original publication date). It's a world of space shuttle passenger service, humanoid robotic workers, fully armored taxicabs, and children in gas masks—and is a world without the
Bronx. It seems that on April 20, 1995, a
white supremacist group attempted to kidnap the
President during a visit to New York City. During the ensuing gunplay, a member of the group detonated a
nuclear device, and five years later, the Northeastern United States is still in recovery. U.S. Agent Gavia Immer (sharing a name with the common
loon) is stationed by the
U.S. military in a cabin in the woods of the
Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts. His new job consists of displacing mutated animals ("animutes" or "biomutes") and collecting pH samples of the reservoir, which is frequently limed to compensate for the effects of
acid rain. Gavia is alone at this cabin (save for an occasional trespasser and the
puma that stalks the mountains above the reservoir) but is in contact with his superiors through a
video conferencing system, which he also uses to speak to his mother. Haunted by his unresolved relationship with his late father, four years gone, he spends many nights watching a series of videotapes his father made documenting his search for truth—something Gavia also desperately seeks. Among the questions needing answers is that of a colony of flying
manta rays—the principal "animute" inhabiting the reservoir. Although the government is aware of their existence, the chief concern at the story's outset is the origin of their mutation, as well as the importance of keeping the creatures a secret. Starting with issue #21, the story skips two years ahead, and follows Gavia as he leaves the service and begins to travel cross-country.
Themes A strong message of
environmental responsibility runs throughout the series. In one of the most memorable scenes of the comic's run, a wealthy old woman enjoys a drive through the country with her robotic chauffeur. She sees a cluster of flowers with an aluminum can beside it and urgently requests the car pull over. She then asks the chauffeur to pick the flowers for her, leaving the can behind. Most issues include sections called "Notes on the Environment" and "The Fraying Weave", which offer facts and often frightening statistics related to tropical rainforests, endangered animals, and other environmental concerns. == Publication history ==