Writer: Jeff Borack
Artist: Todor Hristrov

This visually dark comic opens with a scorpion and rat squaring up to each other before a crow swipes the rat away. When the rat shoots a laser beam from its eye to kill the crow, you know without a doubt that we are in science-fiction land.

The ‘three factions’ premise comes later as we ride along with a father and his daughter Isabelle and others to break into a prison that has recently been moved outside its bubble to a reclamation site. The only clue that we are still on earth is the mention of ‘Tucson’, though it’s never made clear how many years in the future we are.  However,  given that there are prison robots on security details, it’s got to be at least a few years.

Isabelle, as well as being around 10 years old, seems to be the group’s tech girl who asks silly kid questions in between receiving her orders. It’s murky as to why prisoners are being broken out, who the Headhunters are and who Big Ben is. The prison break-in goes wrong but we don’t know why or who benefits. All I know is that Isabelle and Daddy are the heart and Big Ben the brawn.

As this is the first issue, I am sure all these questions will be answered and with such a lean set-up, the makers of this comic are making sure you keep reading. The artwork is the antithesis of the shiny, chrome-lined sci-fi story; it’s dirty, cold, charcoal-y, grimy, murky and wholly unclear. The only splash of colour is the red of blood and the red of lasers. That’s got to be a heads-up.

Rating: 4/5.

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The Writer of this piece was: Hazel Hay

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