EXCLUSIVE: Meet The Cast Of ComiXology’s ‘Boxed’ Graphic Novel

by Olly MacNamee

First announced at this year’s NYCC, writer Mark Sable (Miskatonic, The Dark, Graveyard of Empires), artist Jeremy Haun (40 Seconds, Red Mother), with colourist Nick Filardi and letterer Thomas Mauer, have a new psychological sci-fi thriller, Boxed, debuting on ComiXology Originals this Tuesday 12th December.

It’s also at NYCC 2023 where our very own Tom Smithyman got to interview Mark about Boxed too. Check it out here before diving into a preview as well as our exclusive look at the cast of characters, which we’ll start with:

“FRANK SAVAGE is a RAID (RAPID RESPONSE, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE DIVISION) Special Agent who is called in when an AI is suspected of having evolved or deviated from its programming. If he determines there’s any threat, he shuts down and “boxes” the AI – storing it in a vast, electromagnetically shielded underground cavern where it can’t be reactivated or tampered with externally. Frank is a technophobe, and for good reason.”

“ANGELA SAVAGE Frank’s daughter. She fears technology as a result of her mother’s death and is one of the few of her generation who can survive without it. Secretly though, she yearns to follow in her mother’s footsteps, leaving her vulnerable to manipulation by those who would see superintelligent AI brought back into the world.”

“PROMETHEUS, the first superintelligent AI.

“PANDORA, an AI he boxed right after the Prometheus Incident. Pandora was created as a “honeypot” by the CIA, a digital femme fatale to seduce and comprise enemy agents. Pandora was designed to analyze the dating profiles of foreign agents and literally become the girl (or boy) or their dreams. She evolved into someone able to manipulate anyone and anything emotionally.”

“FREDERIC ROEHM. Frank’s former partner, he’s the only AI scientist to survive the “Prometheus Incident.” While he saved Frank’s life, RAID makes it illegal for him to do the work he was born to. Still, he’s used his genius to create ELYSIUM, a digital “heaven” where humans can upload their consciousness into virtual reality before they die. It’s made him wealthy beyond measure.

But that’s not enough for Roehm. He and his daughter suffer from a degenerative disease that has cost them the ability the walk and will ultimately cost them their lives. The only way to find a cure in his lifetime is with the help of an illegal super intelligent AI.”

“HIPPOCRATES AI designed for public safety that begins to exceed its programming and become sentient.”

All set up? Good, then let’s tuck into the preview:

“A government operative is tasked with taking quarantining or “boxing” sentient A.I. He’s forced to team up with his ex – and A.I. designed to seduce him – in order to take down an even greater threat: an A.I. who has taken over the Centers for Disease Control.”