Dark Horse Comics 2015
Written by Eric Heisserer
Penciled by Ace Continuado
Inked by Adelso Corona
Coloured by Wes Dzioba
STORY SO FAR In the far future, most of the galaxy has been brought under the control of the Caliphate and its leader Victus—a man who, it is said, can see “ten breaths into the future.” But for all his power, Victus fears a prophecy that says the Shapers, a race of shapeshifters from the hidden planet Solace, will bring about the end of his reign. So his soldiers hunt the Shapers.
Spry is a young student who idolizes the Caliphate’s Hoplite troopers and Victus’s chief enforcer, Tor Ajax, as they appear in the holocard game Heroes of the Caliphate. But when the real Tor Ajax shows up and captures his teacher, Niva Spry learns that she is actually his mother, and that she and his long-lost father Orin are Shapers . . . which makes him one of the hunted! Stowing away on a space freighter, Spry sets out to save his family and discover his own ancestral abilities . . .
Wow I cannot believe how impressive this book is. Right off the bat the interior artwork really jumps out at you with these alien cow/ram hybrids they are so majestic looking. Throughout the entire book the art is incredible the colours pop, the page layout is fantastic and the facial expressions really give that sense of emotion coming off the characters. There really is just sheer brilliance in the imagination we see of the forms the Shaper’s take. Cal Victus is one heck of villain too he exudes mania that he’s just unstable.
The fact that Spry has his cards from a game that he’s using as a guideline to find people is one of those unique and original things that you just don’t expect. While he’s jumped in one just one issue from a slacker full of dreams into a confident young man with a mission he’s done that by learning who his mother is and that he’s a Shaper and he has go now to find his mother. He’s grown up in the snap of your fingers but he’s still a kid who hasn’t been around long enough to really know how to do things. He’s still growing and learning and we see this and I love that you get the sense from what’s happening is that he’s a scared little boy still fronting this bravado.
Along with the seriousness of what’s going on there’s humor here too. When he walks into the bar looking for Rand immediately before he can get the name out they are all nope not my kid with various reasons. It really makes you laugh and it doesn’t really stop there because they are all like little boy you need to stop believing in fairy tales. Oh but of course in his search and these guys wanting to rough him up he reveals his true nature. The characterization here that flows along with the action in the story is done extremely well we learn a lot about the characters by their actions more than by what they say and that’s a nice synergy they have going on here with this book.
That the shapes they can take are hereditary is kind of fun and we’ll see just how many different forms Spry has inherited. So he manages to find Rand who saves his ass, and to see how all this goes down you really should be reading this book. There are a few more reasons as well seeing as how the cast expands and ties into the opening of the issue is surprisingly well done. Plus we see Spry’s parents together and well they are both being held by Cal. Gotta say Orin is a bit of a hottie too sigh.
This whole book is incredible from it’s concept to execution to the interior artwork it all comes together in such a magnificent way. This is a gem of find so grab it now you’ll be more than pleasantly surprised.