Ocean #1

October 16, 2004

Quick Rating: Good

A century into the future, an odd find in space calls forth a special investigator from Earth.

Writer: Warren Ellis
Pencils: Chris Sprouse
Inks: Karl Story
Colors: Randy Mayor
Letters: Jared J. Fletcher
Editor: Scott Dunbier
Cover Art: Michael Golden
Publisher: DC Comics/Wildstorm Signature Series

A while back I said I would be interested in seeing some more pure space opera out of writer Warren Ellis. With the release of this six-issue miniseries, it seems I’ve gotten my wish. One hundred years in the future, scientists studying the ocean moon of Jupiter make a startling discovery. Back on Earth, Nathan Kane, a special weapons inspector with the United Nations, is called to space to study the phenomenon.

This is very, very much a set-up issue. After the prologue, where the discovery is found, pretty much the whole book revolves around Kane getting his orders and flying to Jupiter. Oh sure, there’s a bit more plot in there – he gets accosted by miners, he waxes poetic about the early days of space travel – but none of that appears to have any immediate impact on the story itself. I could be wrong, but it’ll be some time before we find out – that’s the trouble with a monthly comic as opposed to a graphic novel, it can take a long time to know if something is superfluous or set-up.

Ellis paints an interesting vision of the future, a clean, antiseptic world beyond our own, and the discovery that is made is pretty surprising in and of itself. It’ll be interesting to se where the story is going.

Chris Sprouse and Karl Story are great artists, particularly in the sci-fi genre (I’ve been a fan of Sprouse since his Legion of Super-Hero days), and they do a great job of getting across the look and feel of the space stations and vehicles that are so important to this series.

There’s not too much more to say about this issue – it’s really all set-up, and it’s hard to tell if a set-up issue is good or not until you get to the payoff. There are good seeds of story, here, and that’s probably the best that can be said at this point.

Rating: 7/10

Terra Obscura (2003 Series) #5

October 27, 2003

Quick Rating: Average
Title: Valley of the Shadow

Liberator and Scarab battle the reality-altering X.

Writers: Alan Moore and Peter Hogan
Pencils: Yanick Paquette
Inks: Karl Story
Colors: Jeromy Cox
Letters: Todd Klein
Editor: Ben Abernathy
Cover Art: Yanick Paquette and Karl Story
Publisher: DC Comics/Wildstorm (America’s Best Comics)

If ever a comic book was a screaming argument for the existence of a “Previously in this title” page, it’s this one. I didn’t read the first four issues of Terra Obscura, and I was completely lost trying to read this one. I didn’t know who any of the characters were, and even the role call that was done about four pages from the end didn’t really help matters. I couldn’t figure out anyone’s powers or motivation, what made X such a dastardly foe or what his agenda is, and really the only reason I’m rating this book “average” is because I’m assuming that if you’ve read the first four issues and know the answers to these questions, you’d enjoy it a lot more than I would.

The artwork, fortunately, is another story. Paquette and Story work well together, a slightly rough style that seems the fit the old-fashioned characters. When I first looked through the pages, I would have sworn that the artwork was by Kevin Nolan – it’s the same sort of style. The splash page employs an old trick I always love – the superhero-ripping-through-the-page stunt, although page placement doesn’t quite match up.

Cox has really broken from the pack as a great colorist in the last few years, and he helps give this book a very sci-fi tone during the battle at X’s headquarters, then shifts to a more rustic palette for outdoors scenes.

I wish I could recommend this book, or tell you why I’m not recommending it, but I was clueless as I read the title. If anyone out there has read the first four issues and can clue me in, please do. I welcome a little clarity.

Rating: 5/10