A science fictional miniseries from Image Comics is always something to look forward to, but what “Storm Dogs” #1 brings to the table is more conventional than you might expect. However, that may be the only flaw here: this issue is full of strong writing and gorgeous art.
Written by David Hine
Illustrated by Doug Braithwaite and Ulises ArreolaDAVID HINE and DOUG BRAITHWAITE are re-united for Season One of this science-fiction crime thriller. A uniquely skilled team arrives on a frontier planet to investigate a series of bizarre and violent deaths. Forced to rely on primitive technology, they soon learn what it means to be aliens in a hostile environment. If they are to unravel the mysteries of Amaranth they will also have to learn what it is to be human.
What do you get when you set a murder investigation on a neglected frontier planet? The answer, it turns out, is something quite familiar: a science fictional story in the cowboy vein. The offworlders who come to investigate are fish-out-of-water outsiders, while the part of Amaranth that we see is dusty and hostile, exploited for its modest store of minerals and populated with a variety of shady characters as well as dangerous beasts. Meanwhile, the indigenous population hovers somewhere at the fringes, their lack of technology an inconvenience which obliges the investigating team to leave their gadgets behind. It’s not exactly clear why an outside team of investigators has been hired, apart from the planet’s remoteness, and at the moment Amaranth feels more like an isolated locale than a whole planet, the kind with (I’m assuming) your usual ice caps and oceans and variety of climates and cultures.
Central concept aside, some pains have been taken here to ensure that all the characters come across immediately and memorably. The team that will be investigating the recent series of murders are a diverse group, and by the end of the issue we have a decent handle on who they are and what baggage they’re carrying. Hine gets the latter across very efficiently by having the characters say farewell to their loved ones via “the Weave” before their mission actually begins and the prime directive requires them to turn it off; most are leaving something behind when they undertake this mission, and it’s not exactly easy for them to have to sever the connection. Meanwhile, the most compelling among the characters so far may be Siam, the “muscle” of the mission, with her best moment involving no words at all: lawman Deputy Bronson gives her the stink eye, and she gives one right back.
There’s not much to say in terms of plot, here, besides the fact that toward the end of the issue the team is made to witness to a grisly event that pertains to their investigations, but overall things seem to be advancing at a nice pace (i.e., not the fast-forward clip that miniseries sometimes adopt). Enough time has been spent setting up this world that we are well-equipped to move on.
Braithwaite’s art has the feel of the cover to a science fiction novel from the 1960s — all bold landscapes and strong cheekbones under a thin watercolour-like wash. It’s really quite gorgeous, nailing the atmosphere in the first few pages while keeping the technological elements (protective suits, land rovers) both consistent and believable. That’s not even to mention the dinosaur-like creatures, which are beautifully detailed and drawn with a dizzying sense of scale. Ulises Arreola’s colours really come to the forefront toward the end of the issue, where a storm breaks up the dusty spectrum of colour into something much brighter and more various.
My only quibble in an issue full of lovely pages actually pertains to the last one, where we get a glimpse of an indigenous group. It may not be entirely fair of me to say that these aliens look a touch familiar (it’s notoriously hard to depict aliens that are human enough to be sympathetic but different enough to be convincing), but their appearance and bearing do ring a faint bell, in addition to playing directly into the frontier formula. Of course, this is only our first glimpse of this group, and they are actually one of two indigenous cultures living on Amaranth, so things may well turn out to be more complicated than that. It may be the writing here which will determine whether this formula sinks or swims, negotiating that thin anthropological line between exoticizing a culture and actually making it interesting and compelling in its own right.
Overall, this is a solid first issue, showcasing an excellence of execution in terms of both writing and art that makes the most of a well-worn central concept. Time will tell whether this winds up being a formulaic addition to the ranks of Image’s excellent sci-fi miniseries, but there’s enough good stuff going on here that a look at the second issue is a must.
Final Verdict: 8.0 — Buy
