Storm King Productions 2017
Available July 2017
Written by James Ninness
Illustrated by Andres Esparza
Coloured by Sergio Mendez
Lettered by Janice Chiang
When the moon-bound crew of Gaia stumbles across an enormous alien vessel, more technologically advanced than their own, priorities change. The mystery deepens when the crew discovers the name of the vessel along the hull… written in English: VAULT.
Science Fiction, Space Travel, Time Travel, Aliens and Monsters. I”m more than a little impressed by this and mainly because it’s near impossible to create a brand new space horror franchise with an alien species that doesn’t feel, look or act familiar. James however is no stranger to writing horror or comic books and his mind, creativity and imagination are on full display here and it’s a marvelous thing to behold.
For whatever reason we’ve been fascinated with space travel and what’s out there. Sometimes it’s benevolent and sometimes it’s malevolent and sometimes it’s something that our fragile little minds, no matter how smart of supposedly advanced, cannot begin to comprehend. So which one is this? You’ll have to read it to find out but I’m hoping it’s going in the direction I want it to. I say direction because the clues are here and if I put them together correctly then I can’t wait to see how it all plays out. If i’m wrong then that’s okay because bring on the twists and turns i’m ready either way.
In a story like this one the interior artwork is going to be crucial. Andres and Sergio bring their “A” game here. I am a huge fan of the use of backgrounds and in this they really are essential so we can understand what’s going on around the characters, That we see them like we do is utterly amazing. That along with the way page layouts are constructed with their angles and perspective are phenomenal. The colouring too really stands out as we need to have that mood, tone and feel of this desolated, abandoned and utterly wrecked ship floating in space.
As far as set ups go this is is easily one of the strongest, most interesting and well constructed that i’ve seen in quite some time. From the way this world was developed to the characters we are introduced to and the way that the whole book is structured we get much more than we bargained for. From everything we see we are intrigued by what’s happening and by the end of the issue we’re left wanting to know more. The pacing, the revelations and those little moments that literally make you say “What the Fuck” out loud as you are reading this make it what it is.
The Alien franchise can make a spot for the Vault because they’ve now got company where an outer space alien inhabited thriller is on the horizon and it’s worthy.