Legendary Comics 2018
Written by Cavan Scott
Illustrated by Richard Elson
Coloured by Guy Major
Lettered & Designed by John Roshell of Comicraft
Santa Monica, 2034. In a city that was once the jewel of the west coast, a new world has emerged: one rising up from the ashes of giant robots and giant monsters. In this futuristic aftermath, we will meet a new generation of survivors, including Jake Pentecost, son of Stacker Pentecost, who is searching for answers behind the death of his Legendary father; Griffin, a Jaeger pilot who has gone from using his skills to defend the world to piloting an illegal Jaeger enforcer for a mob boss; and the Mech Czar, a techno-criminal overlord who rules the underworld with a steel fist. Set against a neo-noir backdrop of street gangs, Kaiju worshipers, and Jaeger Scrapyards, a mysterious but familiar figure arrives with a dangerous agenda...
Maybe I’m in the minority but I actually enjoy the cinematic release of Pacific Rim. It was a Kaiju film and it worked for me monsters rise from the ocean’s depths to wreck havoc on and unsuspecting world yeah so great monster making, nice mech suits and a lot blowing up stuff it was fun! So when I saw this was out this week I knew I wanted to read it. Then I saw who was writing this and it was a guaranteed thing.
Cavan is a great writer and I like the direction he is taking this book in. With that wormhole closed and the Kaiju gone there is no more need for the forces that were used to fight them and as he oh so accurately describes out of sight out of mind are those who’s fleeting fame now have to face a new reality. There is another psychological aspect to what they went through as well, now Griffin who fought with the aid of a partner whose minds were synced together as one is alone. That has to be more disorienting than we’ll ever know. So what we’re seeing is some extremely good, solid characterisation and it’s what draws us to Griffin and makes us root for him regardless of what he’s doing.
Richard and Guy do some fantastic work on the interiors here. Getting to recreate the Kaiju and bring them to life yeah that’s the kind of creativity and imagination I love to see. Then the PPDCjust Scrapyard where old Jeagers go to die. That two page spread was a spectacular sight to see and the eerie quality to it just makes an impression. It is a strong powerful statement too. The way page layouts are used so that we see the angles and perspective in the panels show an incredibly solid eye for storytelling. The attention to detail here is marvellous to see and it makes the reading experience that much more intense.
Jeager graveyard scavenging and rival gangs showing up to interfere or just eliminate the competition I’m not sure which yet. There’s the impression I get from reading this and I am wondering if that is correct? I’ll keep this to myself for now until we see if I’m right ya know how the ramblings of fans go lol. Still the structure of this book is amazing and how it flows through the pages with the revelations and twists that are thrown in. I like that we see familiar faces and new ones that not all is well in the world just because the fighting ended.
There is a lot of things introduced here that we are left somewhat ambiguous so that they can be explored at a later time and whether that’s in this limited series or another we’ll see. There’s action, adventure, intrigue and some incredible characterisation happening here that is surrounded by some great interior artwork. This is the perfect medium to keep the Pacific Rim franchise alive.