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Advance Review: Cold Space #2

By | May 26th, 2010
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Written by Samuel L. Jackson, Eric Calderon
Drawn by Jeremy Rock

From legendary actor Samuel L. Jackson and Emmy nominated writer/producer Eric Calderon, the team that brought you the Emmy-award-winning Afro Samurai comes the second issue of their new original series — Cold Space. When Mulberry, an on-the-run outlaw, crash lands on a hostile planet and gets caught in the crossfire, he finds an opportunity to make a deal and make some money! Covers by Dave Johnson and Jeffrey Spokes.

Follow behind the cut for my thoughts on the issue.

I quite enjoyed the first issue. I’m a rather big fan of Samuel L Jackson, and to read a comic that literally stars him is pretty awesome. The first issue was a fun set up, but the second is really where it counts. After reading this issue, I can tell that if you stayed on past the first, this will definitely be the make or break issue.

This issue can easily split into two parts, defined as “the first part” and “the second part.” The first part attempts to bring in new characters and clarify some elements of the story, and the second part kicks ass. Now, if you stay along to the second part, you finally get to see what we’ve been expecting from this story the whole time – kick ass moments starring Sammy J. But that’s the thing – the first part is kind of dry. We get a page recap of what we already know, and then are explained a whole bunch of things that don’t outwardly make sense right off the bat instead of moving the story forward. It takes the second half to really get the story rolling, and when it gets good it gets good, but I can’t help but notice the initial stagnation in the story.

The story does very much feel like a Sammy J story, though, and that’s good. When comparing this to Afro Samurai, I would say that this is a much slower entity when compared to the previous Calderon/Jackson team-up, but they are a trust worthy team and it’s only the second issue. I get the feeling that this book is largely a grower. I’m enjoying it so far, but I’m not particularly moved in either direction yet. I’ll definitely pick up the next issue though, because as I said, the end is where it gets really good.

I don’t really like Jeremy Rock’s art through the whole thing, though. Here’s the thing about it (and it’s odd): I think Rock has some great character design and is great at motions. The costumes are awesome, and the scene set up throughout the story is cool. There’s an awesome (read: cheesy) scene where Mulberry shoots specific cards to prove a point, and the way Rock sets that up with his facial expressions is great. But here’s the thing I noticed on the first page: aside from Mulberry, the characters all look the same but with different facial hair. It’s very prevalent in the third page of the issue where two characters literally have the same face, and it’s odd. In fact, there was a scene where I got some characters confused because they ended up looking so similar. It takes me out of the story, and ultimately that’s a detriment. I think Rock has a very slick and smooth style that’s almost akin to the Luna Brothers, but I wish there were more diversity in the way the characters looked.

I like the series so far. I’m not as ecstatically enthused as I assumed I would be initially. I like the series, and I like the end of this week’s issue in particular. There is the making of a fun series in here, but it hasn’t fully realized it’s potential yet. That’s my take on it, yet. We’ll see how much more exciting the next issue is, because I’m really ready for there to be a firefight.

Final Verdict: 7.3 – Buy


Matthew Meylikhov

Once upon a time, Matthew Meylikhov became the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Multiversity Comics, where he was known for his beard and fondness for cats. Then he became only one of those things. Now, if you listen really carefully at night, you may still hear from whispers on the wind a faint voice saying, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not as bad as everyone says it issss."

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