Space Job #1: No One Can Hear You Laughing In Space

Space Job #1 introduces us to the SS George H.W. Bush crew, a quasi, Star Trek-esque spaceship whose crew has more drama than even the most essential episodes of Generations or TOS. The issue starts with a cook, Danny Sheridan, who receives the job offer of a lifetime when he is invited to be the First Officer aboard the ship. He dies, seemingly by accident, almost immediately on the ship. The issue transitions perspectives around to introduce readers to the different crew members. The captain of the ship is a self-absorbed jerk who has little to no respect for his crew or the mission, Lieutenant Biggins is a dedicated worker but is tired of his job and is looking to do something new, and the ship’s physician is going through troubles with her marriage to another crew member, Rick, who is constantly trying to but in on Biggins’ work. The issue ends with Rick revealing that he is not who he claims to be.

I am not incredibly familiar with David A. Goodman’s work outside of the excellent TV series The Orville, but this issue reeled me in quickly. The entire introduction revolving around Danny’s promotion and subsequent death was hilarious. Goodman wasted no time portraying Danny as an unlivable creep who looks forward to taking advantage of his Yeoman (servant) for sexual favors. The lead-up to his death is full of insidious dialogue about how much of a power trip he’s about to go on and puts his awful personality on full display. Danny immediately dies from an accident on his command chair, a panel that legitimately made me start clapping. It turns out that this story is not about Danny at all. Goodman just used this narrative to help draw in the reader, and it plays off perfectly. Less than halfway through this introductory issue, I was already hooked.

Álvaro Sarraseca’s art was another highlight here. Sarreseca gives each of this issue’s characters definitive personalities that set them apart from one another. The captain, for example, is drawn as an obese man with constantly messy hair. He clearly cares little about his appearance and cares more about material things. This is confirmed later in the issue when we see him pulling a Lyndon Johnson and pulling Biggins in for a meeting while he’s on the toilet, proving that this man has zero shame. Sarreseca’s tiny detail of constantly drawing him with messy hair is a constant reminder of this and helps set the tone for this character well before a lot is established. 

This book takes a turn at the end with the revelation that the person claiming to be Rick is not actually Rick. This ties up the plot thread of the physician who felt Rick was a “different person,” which turned out to be more literal than she likely imagined. This series is only four issues, so I’m curious where this plot thread will lead. The tone of this book is not that of a body-snatching horror flick, so I expect this to take some comedic turn later.