By Jarred A. Luján — Pandemica #1 is a new mini-series from IDW Publishing written by New York Times’ bestselling author Jonathan Maberry with line art by Star Wars: The Old Republic alumni Alex Sanchez. It’s also a timely book about designer pathogens used to commit ethnic cleansing across the globe. Which is, to be blunt about this, a pretty horrifying plot. The phrase “designer pathogens” alone gives me a sense of dread, and Maberry has made it quite clear that he wants the book to be grounded in reality, going so far as to mention that he has been conducting research with epidemiologists and molecular biologists to make the book more realistic.