When you see the name of a comic book superstar on the cover of a book, usually that’s all you need to know. But what happens when there are two superstars? Does that make the book twice as essential? “Sea of Stars” brings together Jason Aaron, who you may know as one of the all time greatest modern Marvel writers and Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum, another major heavyweight. That’s a lot of writing talent in one book. Is it worth the sum of its parts?
Written by Jason Aaron and Dennis HallumCover by Stephen Green
Illustrated by Stephen Green
Colored by Rico Renzi
Lettered by Jared K. Fletcher“LOST IN THE WILDS OF HEAVEN,” Part One Being a space trucker sounds like a cool job, but in reality, it can be boring as hell. So when recently widowed Gil gets a long-haul gig across the universe, he figures it’s safe enough to bring his young son Kadyn along for the ride—that is, until their “big rig” gets bitten in half by a gigantic Space Leviathan! Now separated from his son—with a breached suit that’s venting oxygen at an alarming rate—Gil must defy the odds and stay alive long enough to rescue Kadyn. But meanwhile, Kadyn seems to be getting all the help he needs from a talking Space Monkey riding a Space Dolphin… or maybe it’s the strange powers he’s suddenly manifesting?! From the writing duo of JASON AARON (SOUTHERN BASTARDS, Thor) and DENNIS HALLUM (Cloak & Dagger, Vader: Dark Visions), with dazzling art by STEPHEN GREEN (Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.) and cosmic colors by RICO RENZI (Spider-Gwen), comes a brand-new science fiction series with all the scope and heart of the The Neverending Story crossed with the imaginative weirdness of Miyazaki—an intense, galaxy-spanning adventure that’s suitable for fans of all ages!
What’s most striking about “Sea of Stars” is just how down home it is. When you hear that something is gonna be about space truckers, you picture Alien or Firefly or another sci-fi series about blue collar space workers. You- or rather I- don’t really think you’re going to get a sentimental Burt Reynolds movie. But that’s largely what this issue feels like. I’m about as far from a trucker as you can get, but the radio chatter sure felt authentic (or Hollywood authentic) to me.
Our hero is everyday long haul space trucker Gil Starx (A+ space name). Gil couldn’t find a sitter to watch his son Hayden for a week, so he brought him along on the journey. What is at first a boring trip through the void of space is interrupted by a mysterious collision and before you know it, Hayden is lost in space and Gil will stop at nothing to get his song back.
It’s a pretty standard set-up, so the execution is very important. Both Aaron and Hallum are extremely imaginative creators, but you can’t help but feel that they are a little subdued here. Maybe they were worrying about stepping on each others toes or something, but the writing seems stark and sad. This is not the first time these guys have gone for sad, but something of their usual sparkle is missing.
Don’t get me wrong, the most basic and straightforward Aaron or Hallum book can still be miles weirder than your average comic. There’s a neat space museum, strange creatures, and mystery concerning Hayden’s relationship to alien races. It’s just hard to see where it’s all going beyond the old ‘father searches for son’ survival story.
“Space… is boring,” Hayden says in the opening panel. That kid is confused. Maybe real space, the empty colorless void is boring, but space as drawn by Stephen Green is rad. It’s purple, and cloudy, and psychedelic. There are tons of planets, and nebulae, and space sharks. Freakin’ space sharks! You may know Green from his work on “BPRD,” and that dude can draw. But he too isn’t producing his best work. One panel in particular uses a silhouette where it looks like there should be a fully rendered figure. It’s a gorgeous silhouette, but there’s friction with the action. The silhouette is the central figure and it makes the panel looked rushed… which is clearly ridiculous. The panel, every page, is crammed full of details. It isn’t a mistake, just a bewildering creative choice.
Continued belowBut when you flip back through these pages, you don’t find a bad comic. The pages are filled with an ephemeral sense of mystery. The creators make it clear that they understand the rules of this universe, but their not eager to dole out the details. The infrastructure that makes space trucking an important job is unclear. The history and need for an outer space museum is also unclear. The aliens’ whole deal is very unclear. And the art captures that otherworldly sense through blurry shadows and splashes of bright colors. Flip through any other book on the stands, and most won’t be nearly as well executed as “Sea of Stars.”
All of which makes it clear that “Sea of Stars” is a victim of high expectations. Both writers and the artist have a tremendous body of excellent work. The colorist worked on freaking “Squirrel Girl,” one of the most beloved series out there. That pedigree makes “Sea of Stars” sort of disappointing. It doesn’t rock your world as much as “Southern Bastards” or “Spider Woman” or “Hellboy and the BPRD: 1954.” But then you remember that these guys made all those good comics, and they probably have a few tricks up their sleeves. These are all premier storytellers, and even if the first issue gets off to a somewhat slow start, there’s bound to be a few surprises on the road ahead. The spaceroad.
Final Verdict: 7.6 – A solidly constructed first issue that fails to find a hook.
