Mutants
Gang, Mutants, Tribe
Year 2107
Living in the lowest levels of Robo-City 16 is a tribe of genetic mutants descended from humans, who wish to violently expel both humans and robots from the city, claiming it as their own.
Overview: Symbol of the Mutants
Intro: The Mutants
In The Future is Now 2 - Neon Rising, we see the Mutants taking to the streets of Robo-City 16 in a brutal and bloody uprising, that overwhelms the police and prompts Robo-President K3n3-Dy IV to take the extreme action of destroying everyone in the area with a missile strike.
This brief appearance in the book does give us a look at their visual identity though, before they are obliterated.
Much thanks to Josan Gonzalez, aka Deathburger, for answering my questions and sharing the inspiration behind the symbols and logos he created for The Future is Now 2.
Figure 1.1 The Mutants make a horrible, bloody mess, before being wiped from the map by the Robo-President.
Symbol Usage
Figure 2.1 The Mutants paint the “M” on shirts, helmets and body armor. Some wear an “M” on their belt buckles.
Figure 2.2 The most common application is a large “M” painted on the front of a shirt or back of a jacket.
Design Analysis
The Mutants adopt the letter “M” as their identifying mark, which as we’ve seen, is crudely painted on their clothing and armor (Figure 3.1). Josan likens its appearance to dripping blood, and describes it as a “more brutal/tribal symbol, inspired by the white hand from Lord of The Rings.” In The Lord of the Rings, the White Hand or Hand of Saruman, was used as a symbol of the orcs (figure 3.2) — painted on banners, helmets and faces, as they went into battle. The hand was an intimidating symbol, quickly recognized by enemies. The "M" is used in a similar manner by the Mutants, as they rampage through the streets. Both of these usages are similar to the practice of wearing war paint into battle, which a number of cultures have done throughout history.
The DIY application of the Mutant’s “M” also calls to mind painted graffiti art, and the sort of oozy toxic waste inspired typography we’ve seen associated with other examples of sci-fi mutants in popular culture, like the Toxic Crusaders (Figure 3.3) — references that feel right at home in the context of this book and the dystopian world it builds.
Figure 3.1 The Mutants paint a simple letter “M” on themselves as an identifying symbol for their group.
Figure 3.2 Josan was inspired in part, by the White Hand symbol from The Lord of the Rings fantasy universe.
Figure 3.3 Oozing, dripping and splattering are common treatments for type and other graphic elements relating to mutants. Source: Super7
Cover image for The Future is Now 2 - Neon Rising
THE DESIGNER: JOSAN GONZALEZ
AKA DeathBurger
Illustrator, Architect and Grand Maker of Pizza. Head Archivist of The Ministry of Information of Robo-City Prime, Robotic Union. Designated by The Machine to manage the New Citadel 9, an independent publishing house that releases all The Future is Now related books, prints, original art and merchandise.
Rituals performed at:
Dynamite Entertainment, Boom! Studios, Dark Horse, Games Magazine, Agat and Cie Films, Medium Corp, Editora Aleph, Wired Magazine, Avex Music Group, Paramount Pictures, RoadSec, Harmonix Systems, Metallica, Mondo, Pearl Jam, CDProjekt Red.
Ocassionally summoned at:
3D Total's Sketching from Imagination: Sci-Fi, ImagineFX (FX Posé, March 2016)
To learn more, visit: