Review – Pacific Rim: Tales From The Drift #1 (Legendary)

Publisher: Legendary Comics
Writer: Joshua Fialkov
Pencils: Marcos Marz
Release Date: 4th November, 2015

Tales From The Drift is the latest addition to the Pacific Rim universe, following the successful movie and Year One graphic novel, both of which were released in 2013. Therefore, I think I speak for most people when I say that it’s about damn time we got more Pacific Rim! Set in 2016, prior to events in the film, it follows Jaeger pilots Kaori and Duc as they come face to face with a Kaiju for some gargantuan Smackdown action. However, after a mishap leaves them in a sticky situation, their relationship flashes before their eyes and we get to see how they met and fell in love. Yes, it’s a romance.

If you aren’t familiar with the movie, Jaegers are giant robots and Kaiju are giant monsters. The Kaiju come from a place known as The Drift and they want to destroy the Earth, because they’re anti-social and mass destruction is all they know. The Jaegers are controlled by human pilots in sync with each other and the machine, and they’re the only tools the world has for defending itself against the big beasties. Essentially, it’s two hours of giant robots and giant monsters brawling. And yes, it is as epic as it sounds.

Tales From The Drift doesn’t try to change a good thing; there is plenty of robot and monster action to behold. However, it adds some romantic drama to proceedings for some depth. It’s a very human approach to an otherworldly concept. And for the most part, it is a success – the characters are quite likable and they have an entertaining rapport, even if there is nothing particularly interesting about either one of them, for the time being, at least. That was my only gripe with this first issue; even though it was enjoyable, it didn’t do enough to make me want to read future instalments, and if I wasn’t already a fan of the Pacific Rim universe, I wouldn’t care about reading the next issue.

While it’s still early days, I’m just not as excited about this series as I hoped I would be, especially after such an unspectacular start. It isn’t a waste of time by any means, but I wouldn’t rush out to buy it either. If you’re a fan of the universe already, I say pick it up as it does end on a high note. For now, it’s a solid time passer. Let’s hope the next issue adds some much-needed oomph.

Rating: 3/5.

The writer of this piece was: Kieran Fisher
Kieran Tweets from @HairEverywhere_.