The Matrix Comics Vol. 1

There's no single plot: it is 12 standalone short stories. It opens with Bits and Pieces of Information, by the Wachowskis with art by Geof Darrow: the trial of the robot B1-66ER, who killed its owner to avoid being shut down, an early step toward the war with the machines. Then come stories about people trapped in the Matrix or trying to get out. In Bill Sienkiewicz's Sweating the Small Stuff, Dez starts seeing the code and runs off with his girlfriend. In Neil Gaiman's prose story Goliath, a man is pulled out of the Matrix for a one-way mission and, as his last wish, asks to go back in. In Dave Gibbons's Butterfly, an Agent chase crashes into the home of a man meditating, and he dies.

1. Behind the scenesFree comics online

   Before becoming a book, these stories ran for free on the official Matrix website starting in 1999. Years later, the Wachowskis' own publisher, Burlyman, collected them in print.

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2. ReferenceThe trial became Animatrix

   Bits and Pieces of Information, written by the Wachowskis, shows the trial of the robot B1-66ER. It became the basis for The Animatrix's The Second Renaissance, which goes beyond where the comic ends.

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3. ReferenceGeof Darrow drew the films

   Bits and Pieces artist Geof Darrow was a concept artist on all three films of the original trilogy. The story's title comes from Morpheus's speech about artificial intelligence.

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4. Behind the scenesGaiman wrote it before release

   Warner asked Neil Gaiman to write Goliath for the film's website. He started in February 1999, and the story went live on March 31, the film's release day. It later appeared in his collection Fragile Things.

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5. ReferenceThe butterfly dream

   In Butterfly, Dave Gibbons cuts between an Agent chase and a man meditating until the two scenes collide. The idea comes from Chuang Tzu's parable of dreaming he was a butterfly and no longer knowing what's real.

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