Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising #1

Boy, I've been looking forward to Shrapnel since Radical Comics released that cool, intriguing trailer a few months back. Okay, it looked a bit like a video game, but heavy metal mecha warfare, who can't get into that? In the intervening time, Radical has been promoting the heck out of it, sitting down for interviews with any site that'll have 'em. Hand it to these guys, they know how to market. Then you see the issue in question, a nice hefty size at 48 glossy pages for a stunning $1.99 cover price. How can you go wrong?

Well the short answer is: by having an uninspiring story and lousy art.

The issue opens with a military action that is depicted with such dark and murky art that it's hard to tell what the hell is going on. I certainly can't make out who is fighting whom, or who's winning. It's just flashes of armored soldiers, mechas and big guns and a lot of swirling flame. After 10 pages of this chaos, we find out that it isn't even a real battle we've been watching, but a virtual reality training exercise! Ultimately, we will realize that the marines training here aren't even the main characters of the story. In fact, they are invading world after world and crushing local resistance; in essence these are the bad guys. Why we want to watch generic hostile grunts practice fighting is beyond me.

Let me say up front, Bagus Homoto's paintwork is not to my taste at all. Pretty much the entire book is as dark and impenetrable as the opening. Even for scenes taking place in broad daylight, everyone is clouded in shadows and murk. Considering that faces don't look so swift even when we get a good look, maybe that's on purpose. Sometimes you have to take a hint from where the word balloons are pointing to figure out who's even speaking. It's a shame, the art has been so strong on previous Radical books that this is a huge letdown for me.

A quarter of the way into the book we are finally introduced to the protagonists, a trio of Venusian miners called Sam, Stap and Jammer. It's a somewhat trite scene in which the volatile Stap gets into a barroom brawl with a group of artificially-enhanced "Genotypes," as they argue back and forth whether naturally-born "helots" like Stap deserve equal treatment. It's exposition by insult, with lines like: "I'll break it down pre-school so you can understand-- we're smarter than you and that's why we run the system" or "Helots are just as good a human as any splicer. So I can't figure out pi to the last digit in my head, or run as fast as you, but at least I have some fricking manners!" Not sure I buy that anyone ever talks like that, but as least writer M. Zachary Sherman was able to set up the Genotype/Helot dichotomy for us.

By the end of the issue, I'm not sure how this class warfare even fits in. The main plot concerns the approaching invasion force of the Alliance, who have demanded the surrender of the local government of Venus. World by world, the Alliance has been assimilating the free colonies through brute force, and now have given the President of Venus 24 hours to surrender. Although the planet has no standing army, local genotypes and helots have just as much to lose if they don't volunteer to join the local militia to take a stand against the overwhelming numbers of space marines. Stap and Jammer answer the call, but Sam tries to talk some sense into them, failing to persuade them that they are going to die for a lost cause.

Sam is the female character depicted on the various covers for this series (don't ask me who or what "Aristeia" is; unless I missed a reference, the word isn't even mentioned), and really the only character who is given much depth in issue one. She's quiet, reflective and no-nonsense, and obviously there are some important events in her past which define who she is now. There's certainly some reason why she spends her off hours arguing with a psychological AI program versed in post-traumatic stress disorder, which she has elected to manifest as a hologram of her deceased little sister. When Stap accidentally begins floating off into space during a mining mishap, she reacts with much more command and unconscious training than a simple miner would be expected to have. The issue ends with her planning to flee in the face of the coming storm, but considering that she's wielding weaponry on the battlefield on most of the covers, one would assume that a change of heart is coming up.

Mark Long and Nick Sagan are credited as the co-creators of this book, but I'm not sure what that really means since neither of them wrote or drew it. Sherman uses some weird pacing and clunky dialogue, requiring characters to regurgitate information that the listener would already know, in order to explain the scenario to the reader. The characters other than Sam are pretty thin, and don't ask me why we spend so much time with the Alliance marines, unless the intention is to make some of them sympathetic in future issues, and not the steel-booted thugs everyone believes them to be. The art is just a mess, way too impressionistic and unappealing through most of the book. Honestly, any one of the many cover artists working on this series would be a better choice for the interiors. Radical, I still love you guys, but I think I'm gonna give this series a pass.

Rating: 6.5/10

Titanium Rain #1

It took me a moment to remember why I preordered Titanium Rain in the first place. At first glance, it appears to be a straight up war comic with no particular science fictional angle. Not that I don’t enjoy a good war comic, but I recalled ordering it with a view towards reviewing it for this site. Then, upon further examination, I noticed a 4-panel appearance by a mecha in the opening fight scene, and also that the supplementary maps are dated 2031. Those are your only indications that the story doesn’t take place today.

The aforementioned battle, by the way, comprises the first five pages of the issue, and is the only actual combat that takes place in this ostensible war comic. U.S. soldiers are in enemy territory and under fire, in the midst of a massive Chinese civil war. The scene is compelling and well-rendered, but it’s over in a blink. Frustratingly, once we turn away from this locale we never return to it and none of the characters appear again or are even mentioned for the remainder of the issue.

Instead, the scene switches to an air base off of mainland China, where a squad of pilots spend the bulk of the issue playing poker. My mind boggled at how long this scene drags on, as the squad captain attempts some convoluted metaphor as to how poker is a reflection of the ongoing conflict. I suppose writer Josh Finney is trying to figure out a way to squeeze in an explanation of who is fighting who and why, but this scene of talking heads sitting around a table goes on for what seems like an eternity (it’s actually 9 pages of a 23 page story) and by the end I was still at a loss as to the point Captain Schilling was trying to make.

The photo-realistic artwork in this comic is far more interesting than the writing. The faces of the characters are so unique and distinct that Kat Rocha clearly used real-life models for everyone, of which I approve. Many comic artists seem unable to draw different character faces, to the point where the only way to tell them apart in some books is by their hair styles and clothing. In this comic, it’s very easy to differentiate all of the characters-- even thought all they do is sit around B.S.ing for most of the comic.

Finally towards the end of this issue the pilots are called to arms and hop in their planes. Clearly something exciting may occur-- next issue!

I was both surprised and a little frustrated when I learned that the descriptive blurb on the back cover of this issue reveals more about what’s going on in this comic than the actual comic. According to the synopsis “civil war in China spirals into world conflict. Nations are destroyed. Millions are killed.” It does? They are? Although it’s obvious there’s fighting going on in China, nothing in the actual issue indicates that there is this level of carnage and devastation going on worldwide. “And for many, like US Air Force pilot Alec Killian…” What? Killian is meant to be this story’s protagonist? Who knew? The pontificating captain gets most of the speaking time in this issue. “…survival will mean shedding some of his humanity in exchange for biotech and machine.” It will? That sounds pretty cool, what issue will that be in?

Based on the premise and the artwork, Titanium Rain would seem to have potential, but the pacing is bad and the captions and dialogue vacillate between pretentious and corny. I’d rate Titanium Rain #1 a 6, at best. It’s possible that the whole poker thing would read better and not seem so interminable in a collected trade paperback, but to make it the focal point of a single comic, and your premiere issue no less, was a horrible decision and a big let down. Tighten up those scripts, Mr. Finney!