PRIMORDIAL #2: Laika’s Story

The only thing I love more than a brilliant first issue is a second one that manages to surpass the first and Primordial #2 is one of those comics. Both Lemire, Sorrentino, and the rest of the creative team manage to raise an already exceptionally high set bar in both the writing category and the art category in this next installment and we are as the kids today say “Here for it.”

Lemire and Sorrentino take us on Laika the cosmonaut dogs journey from a stray pup on the street to her trip into space and finally her encounter with the strange unknown presence in space through a mix of Sorrentino’s noir style to show the earth scenes and then the incredible and intricate space scenes which pummel you with hard-edged geometric shapes crossed with psychedelic designs and Stewart’s specialized color palette as we go through the journey that is Laika’s memory along with the presence which is represented by a greenish-yellow tendril as we end up at the hard-edged traditional style inside wherever Laika has ended up with the two apes from issue #1. I’m a dog person and Lemire goes straight for your heart in this one as he injects this issue with feeling. You feel for this dog through her journey and you feel Laika’s loneliness in the strange place she finds herself. Whether she is now self aware because of the presence in her mind or because the presence is merely translating her experience into words we can understand is unclear but the narrative tactic employed is extremely effective from an emotional resonance point of view and raises one’s emotional investment in the story to the next level as we end up back at where we ended our journey in space in issue #1.

Take a look a the spash below which shows the creative team mixing it up with multiple drawing and coloring styles for an intricate splash that is still makes it very easy to follow the narrative line as you move across the page:

We then cut back to the full noir style as Dr. Pembrook finds himself smuggled into East Berlin by the stranger he met in issue one that sent him on his journey (how did he get there ahead of Pembrook???) and Pembrook finds himself face to face with Yelena Nostrovic who was Laika’s caretaker ahead of her journey into space and who confirms that they know Laika is alive and that they need Pembrook’s help to get Laika a message! What does it all mean? I’m speculating here but could there already be an alien presence on earth and could they be trying to help humanity deal with whatever interfered with those so called ” lost ” animal test subjects? That’s just a guess on my part. The issue does a great job of deepening the mystery and making you want to know more.

Andrea Sorrentino, Dave Stewart, and Steve Wands combine for a superlative issue that combines the power of the image, the use of color, and perfectly placed words to deliver an emotional journey to accompany Lemire’s writing balanced against the feel of a noir-style cold war thriller for a second issue that pulls you in even more than the first! This is a book that must be experienced.

you can catch up on our previous review of issue #1 right HERE!