Review by Ian Keogh

Cyn is a human implanted with technology from a byegone age, reluctant to reveal her identity, and still active in an age when humanity has reverted to simpler ways discarding machinery. By chance she collapses in the vicinity of a farm where someone has the skills passed down to repair decayed technology.

We’re shown Cyn has a violent past, but her name and redemptive path is no coincidence. Much of Ibrahim Moustafa’s graphic novel is reflective in nature rather than action based, with the pertinent question being whether we are who we’re told to be, or whether we forge our own destiny. Cyn was once a danger to anyone she encountered, but her awareness has elevated and now strives to be someone different. Early on we see her benefactor Ness taking in stray dogs, and to underline the allegory there’s a scene of him teaching Cyn how to earn the trust of an injured dog.

It’s the case, however, that Cyn isn’t the only person with a past seeking change, and as Cyn is a space western, the past is going to come home to roost.

Moustafa is such an expressive artist, able to convey gentleness and kindness so effectively that there’s a concern that when the inevitable action scenes manifest they’re not going to be as strong. Those fears are unfounded. It takes some while to build toward the action, but Moustafa then extends it over multiple pages, well choreographed in order to show what a force Cyn can be.

Cyn is a simple story prioritising humanity, although with no shortage of action, building a horrific tension toward a climax. It’s excellent.