Mad Cave Studios 2021
Written by Joe Corallo
Illustrated by Lorenzo Colangeli
Lettered by Joamette Gil
Becstar and the crew of the Restal-08 make their way to the planet Derarfin to locate an asteroid navigation tool in order to reach Anyssa and the creation gauntlet. But Ozgar and the Shadow Syndicate are hot on their trail. As usual, nothing is easy for Becstar and she has to rely on her lucky dagger to hopefully escape.
You know you are a fan of a series when you see the cover and cannot wait to dive into the book. As I prepared for the read and review of this I got impatient because I wanted to read this straight away and that’s how I measure how good a book is. Even though i’m not the biggest fan of the art style here I couldn’t wait to read the story because it really is that cute, charming and endearing with these three young women on their intergalactic search. While being chased by those in the employ of her former partner Mordecai. I have to say that the girls know and don’t really care all that much that Mordecai and his Shadow Syndicate are playing them and letting them lead them to Anyssa.
I really like the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceedingly well. The character development we see through the dialogue, the character development and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter really does continue to flesh them out as people we know. The pacing we see is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story we find ourselves completely absorbed in what’s occurring.
I appreciate the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve, strengthen and newly emerge. The avenues that have opened up and that are being explored in various manners that may or may not work with the main arc certainly add some great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved exceptionally well.
The interiors are all-ages cute style and it really isn’t the style I normally gravitate towards but they are well done nonetheless. The linework is nice and confident and how the varying weights are being utilised to create the detail work we see is some very nice work. There is a mixture of blank open spaces and backgrounds here, and we all know I wish there were more backgrounds but it is what it is, and they do enhance the moments as well as work within the composition of the panels bringing us the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope tot he book is magnificent. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a solid eye for storytelling. The colour work is absolutely sensational. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is beautifully rendered. I really love seeing the colour blends, gradation and bleeds and there are moments, Ophiuchus, that really pop and show such an understanding of how colour works.
Part treasure hunt, part missing friend and one hundred percent fun times it is huge fun to enjoy guilt free. The ever evolving dynamic between these three women has been a pure joy to watch unfold. With some incredible writing and charming interiors this series just keeps getting more and more complicated and enjoyable.