Oni Press 2014
Written by Charles Soule
Illustrated by Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque
Coloured by Dan Jackson
President Blades and his wife, Isobel, were held at gunpoint by one of their secret service agents, Pete, who demanded an end to World War III. While Isobel was able to shoot down Pete, Stephen was shaken by the ordeal. Pritchard made the shocking discovery of a planet-killing asteroid heading straight for earth, but with the Clarke still unable to send out communications, how will they warn the rest of humanity in time?
I’m still a huge fan of the way Charles has been able to flesh out the back story while keeping the current timeline moving forward smoothly. We jumped into this like a kid jumping into the deep end and it’s been fleshed out slowly but surely since and since Ms. Jameson’s interview with the former President started we are seeing so much more of what he had to do to get things underway. It’s smart and powerful to see his influences when making decisions was fantastic.
Meanwhile current President Blade has been making his own decisions and they haven’t really been working out for him very well. He’s started what seems to be a worldwide war with the rest of the planet instead of unifying them against that which is coming. He came into the Presidency with such high ideals of how he would do things and since taking office everything he’s known has taken a nosedive and he’s really been reacting and not leading. It seems everytime he tries to take control things spiral even more out of control and seeing the reaction on Earth without even knowing everything happening aboard the Clark has been so interesting to see.
Speaking of the Clark things there are getting really intense as well. Ever since they’ve made contact with the alien species and Astra was born things haven’t been anything like what they appear. As the humans plea for them to use the Chandelier to destroy the asteroid that hurtles towards Earth their so-called friends and indifferent saying planets live and die, civilizations come and go death is inevitable. It doesn’t sound like they really came here to befriend us but more as a curiosity of humans. This adds something different to the mix now and a division among the crew is noticeable when it comes to dealing with them.
Alberto and Dan’s contribution should be noted as well. They not only manage to bring the words to life superbly but they do things so that words aren’t even needed. From what happens in space to the very personal story unfolding to seeing the world at war these two have gone so far above and beyond what we’ve come to expect from this series. They’ve made it so that every time we visit this story we are left with such an emotional experience that we can’t wait for what is going to happen next.
Oni Press is home to some hard hitting and incredibly well crafted stories and this is one that should be in everyone’s reading list.