Review – HaloGen #2 (BOOM! Studios)

HaloGen_002_A_Main Publisher: BOOM! Studios (Archaia Imprint)
Writer: Josh Tierney
Art & Letters: Afu Chan
Release Date: 1st April, 2015

I’m not going to lie, I totally picked this up because of the cover. I know you’re not meant to judge a book by it’s cover, but… look at it! It’s so pretty! With just enough of a Mass Effect influence on the suits, and the fact that the woman has a goddamn Halo on her head, my interest was piqued. Upon opening the book, you’re greeted with the most unique take on the music at a concert I’ve seen in a long time. I really am curious what “SHAP! SHAP! SHAPPITY-DAP!” sounds like, I imagine it to be a cross between hard core gangsta rap and interpretive jazz, but maybe that’s just me?

Anyway, on with the story… The narrative this time seems to be going more ‘space cop’ than the first issue, with the team going to a different planet in the search for a piece of the legendary “Det’Houva”, with the tone of the book shifts once again to a much more Aliens-like vibe. I’m still none the wiser to the actual Hologram aspect of our lead character, but at least this time round we get to see a small construct, giving some insight into the point of the character trait. I’m sure it will be explained in a later issue and to be honest, I’m actually glad there hasn’t been much explained thus far, as it would clog story up and slow down what is already quite a leisurely pace.

Artistically, this is a very pretty book. With a style similar to Eduardo Risso and a bright color contrast, it’s a pleasure to look at. The character design and background art of the book manage to give a sci-fi feel to the book, but without making it seem shiny and fake, making it seem much more akin to Firefly or Star Wars in that it’s kind of dirty and… worn in? Like buying a pair of used Doc Martins, still really comfortable, but the shine has been taken off them and they’ve very much been broken in for you? Yeah, you get what I mean.

With snappy dialog and big open pages, it’s a damn fine book, but there are still flaws (although minor). The pages can seem messy and cluttered at times, and the “speech bubble on the opposite side from he person that’s actually talking”, while different, can be distracting at times when you’re trying to work out who said what. In spite of these niggles, this is a solid second issue that has sold me on picking up the rest of this arc. HaloGen gets my stamp of approval for the music alone.

Rating: 3/5.

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