Theron Couch
Looking to try new indie books? Mad Cave Studios has these first issues and collections available for pre-order in August.
Red Vector #1
(W) Tim Daniel & David “DB” Andry (A) Chris Evenhuis (C) Sjan Weijers (L) Buddy Beaudoin
Cora Martinez has seen her fair share of conflict– as a Sonoran Desert Park Ranger, she straddles the line between sheltering desperate immigrants and steering others away from an uncertain fate. She longs for a place where disputes such as these no longer exist. But a clash far bigger than any on Earth is about to rip the heavens apart and crash land upon her doorstep with the arrival of two opposing combatants in an alien civil war through a rift in space! The earthbound space opera from the creators of Morning Star and Crush Depth begins! When the stars fell, war came to Earth.
Red Vector #1 is more of a world building concept than anything else–and even that is bare bones. Indeed, this first issue deserves an immediate second read to pick up details that are more implied than explicit. Character development is likewise limited, perhaps more so than the plot.
Evenhuis’s art possesses a kind of softness. His linework is conservative. Very thin, short lines create just enough detail to characters’ faces to add extra feeling to their expressions. Most of the emotion is conveyed by subtle changes in eye and mouth shape. This kind of minimal detail is a constant throughout the issue and works very well. It even gives the spacecraft a strange sense of speed and lift.
Red Vector #1 sells itself mostly on the potential of greater things to come. The art is engaging, but the story needs time to develop.
Final order cutoff: August 4 / In stores: August 27
Breaklands vol. 1
(W) Justin Jordan (A) Tyasseta (C) Sarah Stern (L) Rachel Deering
In a future where history was reshaped by godlike psychics, Kasa Fain is the only girl in the world without a power of her own. When her brother is kidnapped, she’s going to need to use every thing she does have to get him back.
Breaklands is immediately recognizable as a typical, civilizational collapse, technology lost, dystopian future. In this case it was people with godlike powers who broke the world. But that idea is balanced out by giving everyone in the current world some kind of power, even if relatively minor. The powers give it a slight fantasy vibe (especially with a major character who wields a sword made of rock). The landscape and plot add an almost a western feel as well. Clever dialogue abounds throughout.
Tyasseta’s art in Breaklands is very minimal. Outside of closeups, there is little detail beyond outlines. Much higher levels of detail are present in closeups, and that level of visual development there helps make up for the much lower detail level in the wider views. There isn’t much use of shading from Tyasset or color transition from Stern which gives much of the art a two dimensional feel. Strangely, though, it works for this story.
Mad Cave is putting out another top notch Comixology original with Breakdowns. It’s a fun book overall, and sci-fi fans especially should give it a look.
Final order cutoff: August 11 / In stores: September 2
Boxed
(W) Mark Sable (A) Jeremy Haun (C) Nick Filardi (L) Thomas Mauer
Since the first superintelligent A.I. went rogue and massacred the world’s top computer scientists, it has been government agent Frank Savage’s job to contain—or “box”—sentient artificial intelligence before they can become a threat to humanity.
When Hippocrates, the Center for Disease Control’s A.I., exceeds its programming and locks down hundreds of thousands of people, Frank is forced to turn to Pandora— an A.I. he once boxed—to contain it. The problem? Pandora is a “honeypot” A.I. designed to seduce and destroy its targets… and Frank’s ex-girlfriend. With the fate of humanity on the line, can Frank trust Pandora, or will their shared past threaten the entire mission?
Boxed is a very grounded look at potential A.I. development. The story balances acceptance and apprehension in what seems like a reasonable and realistic way. Sable is successful in building tension precisely because the story unfolds slowly and with no fanfare. The ordinariness of events that Sable presents is scarier than any doomsday A.I. scenario.
Much like the story, the art in Boxed is very grounded. Haun is good with backgrounds, but the real strength is in his character depictions. They are detailed without being overdrawn. Emotions are conveyed clearly with variations in characters’ eyes and mouth. Extra lines, still very minimal, help accentuate details like cheekbones. Nothing ever feels exaggerated. And this strong but not overdrawn human detail only makes the main A.I. character’s avatar more disturbing.
Boxed is the latest entry in Mad Cave Studios’ partnership to print Comixology originals. The collection also includes the original short story the book is based on.. It’s a relatively down to Earth take on rogue A.I., and it’s strong visual and character depictions is engrossing, Sci-fi fans should definitely not skip this.
Final order cutoff: August 18 / In stores: September 10
Hot Blood vol. 1
(W/A/L) Toril Orlesky
The year is 1871 and the centaur Evander Rook finds himself at rock bottom, working for would-be robber baron Asa Langley–a human! As the unlikely pair get closer, romance and conspiracy run wild and Rook finds himself caught up in Asa’s ambitions as they are both forced to face the ghosts of their interwoven pasts.
Hot Blood is a complicated blend of myth, wild west nostalgia, and romance. The story covers a lot of ground, literally in the sense of territory and time, and emotionally in the complex relationship between Rook and Langley. Orlesky weaves the various narrative elements together very effectively, especially the romance arc which runs the risk of turning into a frenemies/lovers/opposites attract trope. The mythological elements are minimal, despite the fact that the main character is a centaur. It’s enough to add mystery and a sense of wonder to the story which plays into this time period of western expansion.
Orlesky’s art has a kind of rustic quality, especially with Rook whose age and experiences are seemingly written on his face. Perhaps most impressive, though, is how the book captures the emptiness of the mountain west. It’s a recurring visual motif, and the sense of isolation it creates serves to emphasize even the mere presence of characters.
Hot Blood is a fascinating book that effectively combines a number of themes into a cohesive, emotional narrative. It is very successful in this collected edition as opposed to its original release as a web comic.
Final order cutoff: August 18 / In stores: September 10
It Killed Everyone But Me #1
(W) Ryan Parrott (A) Letizia Cadonici (C) Alessandro Santoro (L) Taylor Esposito
In the summer of 1996, Sutton Reed had it all. A popular teenage girl with amazing friends, a loving family, and a bright future. But it all came crashing down over one mysterious weekend that saw her friends brutally murdered and left Sutton as the sole survivor of the legendary Riverton Massacre. Now, three decades later, the death and disappearance of two local teens strike the Riverton community again, forcing Sutton, now a divorced single mother, to face the truth she tried so desperately to hide. Because to catch one killer, she’ll have to dig up the real monster she buried away all those years ago.
There is nonstop palpable tension in It Killed Everyone But Me #1 thanks to a very gripping opening scene. As a result of that sequence, every page turn comes with the expectation that something will happen. This tension allows for the banal to be almost elegant. Parrott delivers very well written, perfectly ordinary dialogue which wouldn’t be nearly as compelling without the bloody thriller quality possessed by the opening pages.
A great deal of the visual power is in characters’ faces, even when they don’t seem to be the focus of the panel. Cadonici is able to imbue them with significant emotion, largely through relative eye and mouth movement. The faces themselves, and much of the art in general, is light on detail. But it’s actually that reduced detail that makes what Cadonici does stand out all the more. Santoro’s slight variations in color shading for implied light sources often manages to work with the art on the page on an emotional level rather than merely a technical one.
The first issue of this supernatural murder thriller is gripping from the start. Parrott develops a sense of fear and dread very effectively. Cadonici’s depiction of characters plays into the ordinariness of the world in which this story is taking place. This first issue is a must have.
Final order cutoff: August 18 / In stores: September 10
Flow #1
(W) Paula Sevenbergen (A) Claudia Balboni (C) Fabi Marques (L) Jodie Troutman
When blood began to run down Dara Lund’s legs at Nature Camp, she thought she was dying. Homeschooled by a protective dad after her mom’s mysterious death, Dara wasn’t told the facts of life. “It’s the Curse,” her bunkmates said, not revealing it was her period. “But we can lift it…if you do everything we say.” So began their week of torment, making naive Dara do torturous tasks for their amusement. But now, 10 years later, as they embark on their careers, the three tormentors find themselves cursed—so they reunite to track down the likely source: a vengeful Dara. And they’ll pursue her to the bloody end.
A recognizable bullying theme runs through Flow #1, but at the same time, it’s certain that some readers will be impacted harder by the story than others. The first issue goes heavier with the flashbacks than the modern day story which is somewhat thin in substance. This actually works to the issue’s advantage by building up anticipation–just how intense is this revenge story going to be?
Marques’s coloring leans brighter without being overly vivid. It’s applied both to the present day and flashback sequences, and it works especially well with the flashbacks which take place when the characters were young and at camp. Balboni’s art is at times low on detail, especially with characters. But her art style works very well with the color choices.
Flow #1’s inciting incident runs the risk of turning off some readers. That would be unfortunate. The art is strong, and at its heart it is setting up what looks to be a solid bullying trauma based revenge thriller.
Final order cutoff: August 25 / In stores: September 17
