Review – Faster than Light #5 (Image Comics)

Publisher: Image Comics
Story and Illustration: Brian Haberlin
Co-creator: Skip Brittenham
Colours: Dan Kemp & Dave Kemp
Release Date: 13th January, 2016

[WARNING: Review contains spoilers]

Mankind’s first trip out of the Solar System certainly has been eventful. The crew of The Discovery have had to deal with a living parasitic planet, a cold shoulder from an alien race and now space pirates.

These pirates are after the crystal that the crew found on the living planet as, in the right hands, it can be very valuable. The crew manage to get the away team off the Pirate’s ship and find themselves slowly losing their spaceship piece by piece to the superior craft. That is until the Nulians (the species that gave them the cold shoulder) turn up at the last minute.

After reading through the Earth’s historical records and observing their pop culture the Nulians have decided that, although flawed, they have deemed them worthy of friendship. They also explain the reason for the cold shoulder was that humans look like a species they used to eat when they were less evolved. Makes perfect sense, right?

Once again, as with previous issues, the art is brilliant with the gloominess of the artwork and the deep colours really getting the tone right in every frame. The only qualm I have with the artwork, and it is only minor thing, is the fact that in some panels the characters seem to lack the life they have in others. A minor niggle perhaps, but one which disrupts the otherwise consistent nature of the book.

Brian and Skip really have built a universe of possibility with this book. The characters are well developed, the technology seems plausible and the alien species aren’t boring or one-dimensional. It reminds me of the better years of Star Trek. I’ll definitely be interested to see how the series goes once this first major arc is done and I’d love to know just how far they have planned out in advance.

If you haven’t picked up a copy of Faster Than Light yet then you really owe it to yourself to head down to your local comic shop and go lose yourself in this rich, dynamic universe.

Rating: 4/5.

PREVIEW ARTWORK
[Click to Enlarge]