Black Mask Studios 2015
Created & Written by Steve Niles
Created & Illustrated by Christopher Mitten
Coloured by Jay Fotos
Steve is one of those men whom I admire he’s got this weird twisted and utterly fascinating mind that comes up with some of freakiest stories around. He can do mysteries and straight up horror or combinations of the two or as we see here a good old fashioned outer space horror thriller. Of course there’s a bit of mystery involved here too and i’m fine with that because it really does help keeping you come back for more. His partner in crime is Christopher and together they really are creating a stellar space story that has everything it needs to chill you.
I like the way this books starts off and right away you get the sense of what kind of story this may be. I mean hyper jumping to Jupiter and a slew of corpses floating around in space, well i’m assuming they are corpses otherwise I have no idea what they really are, and what it kind of means is something completely different however when we hit page six. Which I wasn’t expecting and I like since it gives us more time to get characterization on these three shipmates.
I don’t want to compare to anything but honestly as they getting ready to leave the planet with all their papers in order and have to bribe their way out to get things moving quicker well it does feel a lot like Serenity to me. Though that’s kind of where the similarity ends that feeling when they are trying to get out of there.
The characterization is nice as they go into some kind of hibernation sleep while hyper jumping to Jupiter. I mean the whole new mission parameters are laid out and the banter between them all is beautifully done as is a memory of the past that resonates with anothers pseudo-nightmare just had. Bits and pieces tying it all together nicely and setting the stage for where and why they are heading, Ganymede by the way a Moon of Jupiter.
What Christopher does with the interiors is really good too, I like the minimalistic backgrounds that are just shades of blocked colour. The unique facial enhancements, beards, facial piercings body modifications that sort of thing that makes each one unique but instantly recognizable as them being a unit and friends. It’s like their personality quirks bind them in a way that’s nice to see.
I love reading Steve’s work he truly is a modern day master of the horror genre and the way he’s able to get us into their lives and world so easily is just amazing to see. It’s also great to see him flexing that incredible mental muscle of his with a great original story like this. Love outer space science fiction this is perfect you for add horror to the mix or just plain creepiness and you’ll enjoy it even more! This is a slam dunk!