Vault Comics 2018
Written by Michael Moreci
Illustrated by Hayden Sherman
Coloured by Jason Wordie
Lettered by Jim Campbell
Mayhem, cyborgs of destiny, and boozed out prophets. It's all here in Wasted Space, so strap in and hold on tight for the wildest sci-fi ride of 2018. Never has a more ragtag, unwilling group of heroes—"heroes"—been assembled, but if they don't pull their sh*t together, it just might spell the apocalypse. Which would be bad. Right?
The more I read of this the more I am falling in love with it! Billy feeling guilt over his role in duping people by being a preacher and getting the scumbag in office has been overwhelming for too long now. So being on the run like he is with his trusty sidekick Fuq-Bot has allowed a bond between them form and last issue the met with Molly Sue. Now whether Billy likes it or not she’s a part of the group oh and she gets visions from the creator, Billy used to see him and take orders from him, and her visions say the two will work together to set the universe right again.
Science Fiction covers a lot of territory and religion while mentioned either in allegory or outright has never been seen like this before, at least not by me. To see this kind of being so relevant to today’s world with leaders who have no right to be in their positions and religion thinking they have the right to dictate how people live and should live well it’s eerie. Also the fact that Michael manages to make the backdrop of what is going on is utterly amazing and when I think about it it’s really Billy’s story and how he has to overcome his fears, his past and his self pity to rise up and become who he was to be well I am thoroughly impressed.
The way this book is structured is so delightful to me. There is just this seemingly effortless flow to how the story is being told and the movement between one segment to the next doesn’t feel like a transition to me it just has that right feel to it. Also while there seems to be a lot of talking going on it doesn’t seem to have that long winded effect. I like the story Molly Sue is telling and how it is significant and how it is never exactly what it seems, seriously I thought something else was going on there and that I was fooled so well is something I want see happen more.
Hayden and Jason do some really cool, interesting and dynamic work on the interiors. The fusion of styles to create something more unique is just so damn cool. Once upon a time I would’ve this simplistic and not worthy but they way that it fits the storytelling and makes the world comes alive is exceptional. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a very good eye for storytelling. There is something about the bold linework that goes with the more subtle area and creates this wonderful effect.
As we see Molly’s past come to life and how being on this world is the beginning of their journey together as well as possibly the end of it if things don’t a crackin is so much fun. Crazy is what crazy is and while there seems to be more here than is usually seen per quota it also makes this absolute weird kind of sense. There is so much to like and enjoy here and it is so great that Vault Comics can home to such stories as this one.
With smart intelligent writing, superb characterisation and some awfully well conceived interiors there really is no wasted space here.