Astronaut Ink 2015
Created, Written & Illustrated by Joe St. Pierre
Additional help by Atomic Paintbrush, Chris Summers
Benjamin Carbonero, Karl Ottersberg
This issue we meet Cricket. She’s pretty interesting I have to admit. I like the idea of a girl who has her attitude who has a way with ghosts and the dead. I also have to hand it to Joe here because the way the characterization, story and subject matter all flow is extremely well done.
On a case she’s called in for as a woman is haunted by her dead husband and Cricket is brought in to end that. We meet her team as well, Turk the big guy who’s a softie at heart and Brycey who’s a spunky lil gal and I gotta admit I like her. This is a well constructed story and the fact that the ghost appears and what happens story wise with him, his wife and Cricket well it’s definitely a take I haven’t seen before.
That Cricket is self-confident without crossing the line into arrogant is a hard thing to portray but Joe does that well here. I also like that she’s smart, I don’t mean sassy or sarcastic but really smart. She knows her stuff, can express herself well. So the revelation as to why he looks like he does and why he’s still there was more than a little surprising and was a wonderful twist on things.
Original out of the box thinking that is engaging and thoughtful. Joe’s a really good writer and the interior artwork matches that extremely well. Oh and after that’s all said and done, the helping with ghost that she does for work mind you, the end of the first story blew me away. Oh yeah I have to say there’s so much room here for character development with her and i’m excited to see more appearances by her as the series goes on.
The second story this issue goes back to Liberaider and him trying to figure out how his powers work and to stay alive past curfew when the city’s not exacting a friendly welcoming place. Not that it ever is but the nights are dangerous and there’s a reason for curfew. I’m digging this and i’ll tell ya why it’s because while we don’t see everything he’s been doing we do see some aftermath and see that he’s learning on the fly as well as he can and is messing up as he goes as well.
It’s an honest look at a hacker who is trying to be a superhero and is out of his element in the “real” world. If and when he masters his new suits (or is it body’s) abilities things may be different but in the meantime he’s as much a liability in the field as a help and that’s the kind of honesty we need more of.
I also liked seeing the Dregs, I’m guessing, in riot gear out in the night and the two in the morgue examining the company’s men and wanting their implants. Their outfits are definitely not standard company issue that’s for sure. Then there’s the use of the podcast and how Liberaider was able to get to the guys doing it. That was pretty awesome I have to say.
Joe is doing this pretty much by himself with a little help here and there and I have to say this is the kind of writing and interior artwork you’d find in some well known companies offerings. This is why I urge y’all to take a chance on the little guy because finding a series like this helps remind you why you started reading comics