Nitz the Bloody
02-19-2009, 02:16 PM
First issue of Kelly Yates' creator-owned Image series has arrived, and though I bought it mainly out of curiosity, I found it to be quite enjoyable. A lot of it's pulp sci-fi genre stuff right out of Flash Gordon, with alien empires and evil overlords and square-jawed human heroes using elaborate ray-guns. The backstory is firmly entrenched in these tropes, to the point of cliche; this seems to be the intent.
What makes the first issue so intriguing is the establishment of the heroine-- the college-aged daughter of the past hero, who is stuck living in a high-tech scrapyard under surveillance of dad and mom-- and how she offers a contrast against what we've seen of her father's adventures. On the one hand, Amber's hot-headed, impetuous, and short of attention span. On the other, the fact that she can't even go to college because of her parents' attempt to protect her makes her sympathetic. The fact that she's a young woman seems to be a motivator in this, because she's clearly in a genre that's largely a sausage-fest ( and kudos to Yates for designing her with tomboyish clothes and a realistic figure, in contrast with the Barbarella image of the sci-fi heroine who is given a chance because of sex appeal above all else ).
A lot was unclear in this issue, particularly the behind-the-scenes political dealings with the United Planets; I get that it's building up to something, but there wasn't much to go on to be intriguing. But the character stuff with Amber was exceptional, and I look forward to the next issue.
What makes the first issue so intriguing is the establishment of the heroine-- the college-aged daughter of the past hero, who is stuck living in a high-tech scrapyard under surveillance of dad and mom-- and how she offers a contrast against what we've seen of her father's adventures. On the one hand, Amber's hot-headed, impetuous, and short of attention span. On the other, the fact that she can't even go to college because of her parents' attempt to protect her makes her sympathetic. The fact that she's a young woman seems to be a motivator in this, because she's clearly in a genre that's largely a sausage-fest ( and kudos to Yates for designing her with tomboyish clothes and a realistic figure, in contrast with the Barbarella image of the sci-fi heroine who is given a chance because of sex appeal above all else ).
A lot was unclear in this issue, particularly the behind-the-scenes political dealings with the United Planets; I get that it's building up to something, but there wasn't much to go on to be intriguing. But the character stuff with Amber was exceptional, and I look forward to the next issue.