Real Ones: “a cute story about a cat, until you notice the severed finger…”
Know Your Station #1
Sarah Gailey
Liana Kangas
Rebecca Nalty
Boom!
Know Your Station is a sci-fi comedy, murder mystery, which takes place upon the First Resort spaceship, which has escaped the climate change calamity that’s happening on earth. The ship is essentially a corporation which has selected the elite of Earth to live above the fray. In the opening pages, we are introduced to the staff in charge of the ship with an entertaining, new employee guide. In this series we follow the ship’s Security Liaison, Elise, who is responsible for catering to the elite who are able to live on board this vessel.
When we first encounter Elise, she’s hunched over, puking into her toilet. There is blood spattered against the wall. She’s hooked on a drug called “blue”, which the AI of the ship, named St Brigid, administers to her intravenously, on her command. Although it’s an ugly scene, the banter between Elise and St Brigid is hilarious. St Brigid supplies the comic relief as Elise struggles to get ready for her busy day. Elise is trying to forget the memory of the grisly murder of the CFO, Alberto Fairmilk, who was skinned alive, that she encountered the day before.
The murder itself is kept under wraps at the request of Elise’s boss. Enter Detective Sergeant Leona Pritchard, who was brought aboard the ship to quietly solve the case. In a video projection replaying the murder scene, Leona is so horrified that she becomes sick looking at it. However, Elise is more concerned with getting her next hit of blue than working with Pritchard to solve the case.
Know Your Station is written by Sarah Gailey and illustrated by Liana Kangas. I know Liana’s work from the True Kvlt, which was amazing. I loved this first issue because even though it’s dealing with addiction and murder, it’s got a really light touch and it’s endlessly funny. Elise is a relatable character and the residents and staff of the ship are all ridiculous people. It’s black humor at its finest. St Brigid is a great character as well and I would keep reading just for the banter between it and Elise, alone. Know Your Station is definitely worth checking out and because it’s a limited series (5 issues), it’s much more digestible. I will be rooting for Elise to kick the blue and to track down the murderer, whoever they might be.
4 out of 5 daggers
Indigo Children #1
Curt Pires,
Rockwell White
Alex Diotto
Image
This is a new series from writer Curt Pires, that details an American journalist’s search for a group of gifted children with extraordinary powers, seemingly from another world. The prologue opens showing four children with glowing eyes, floating towards an ancient pyramid. We are then introduced to a Russian child named Alexei, who boards a flight with his mother. Alexei becomes fixated on one nervous passenger and is able to look into this stranger’s past in order to see that he’s a threat. As an agent approaches the man, the plane explodes.
An American journalist named Donovan Price receives a mysterious video from years before, showing Alexei and his mother, along with a math professor who tutored him, describing his abnormal intellect and genius. When Alexei is questioned about how he knows so much, he talks about a past life, lived on Mars. The video is considered contraband in Russia, and as Donovan works to track down Alexei, he encounters resistance from sources, an attempt on his life and stonewalling from Alexei’s professor. Eventually he is able to make contact with his mysterious source, but not without garnering unwanted attention from authorities.
Indigo Children is an intriguing sci-fi thriller from Pires and co-writer, Rockwell White, that is heart-pounding and transcendent in its world building. The artwork by Alex Diotto is, at times, crudely rendered, but succeeds in pushing the narrative forward. The colors by Dee Cunniffe really stand out here in elevating the artwork. The first issue is really interesting and ends on a cliffhanger. I’m compelled to at least seek out the second issue to get a better sense of where the story is going. It’s recommended reading and while I wasn’t completely blown away by it, I’m curious.
3 out of 5 daggers
Hairball #1
Matt Kindt
Tyler Jenkins
Hilary Jenkins
Flux House/Dark Horse
From the cover of the book, you might think that Hairball will be a cute story about a cat, until you notice the severed finger below. This gives a hint that this will be a bit darker than your average cat comic. And, indeed, it is. Hairball is a horror story, narrated by Anna, a young child adopted by a troubled couple. The same day that Anna arrives at the house, a black cat she names “Bestie” moves in, as well. That night, Bestie bites Anna’s arm, in her sleep, and implants what looks like two worms into her arm. Bestie has a habit of coughing up strange looking insects all over the house which seem to carry out the cat’s will.
Scenes with the parents arguing about infidelity and alcoholism are interspersed with Anna’s therapy sessions. Anna’s father disciplines her because she doesn’t talk. Bestie observes all of this and reacts to protect Anna. The cat communicates with her, telling Anna about what will happen. At one point, she tells the therapist that she can’t speak to him any longer, because “Bestie told me not to.” What follows is truly horrifying.
Hairball is expertly written by Matt Kindt and Tyler and Hilary Jenkins artwork work perfectly together to illustrate this dark tale. The pages are bordered in black and Anna’s therapy sessions happen in the dark, Bestie is a black cat, and darkness pervades the story. The pacing of the story is slow and menacing. It would make for a great horror film. I really enjoyed it, meaning that I was surprised by how frightening a story about a girl and her cat could be. If you’re into horror comics, you should pick this up. If you don’t, then beware of the cat in your life.
5 out of 5 daggers
