Review: E-Stella The Star Girl
E-Stella The Star Girl is a 150 page graphic novel by author/artist Marcus Doidge. Our heroine, the titular (sorry, couldn't resist!) E-Stella, is a buxom and curvaceous explorer who loves to float around in microgravity, preferably naked or with her clothing set to transparent (for example, when stretching out on the hull of her stolen ship to do a bit of starbathing)... She is also fond of steamy showers with the whole ship set to invisible cloak mode so that she can see the stars, even though this would make her visible to anyone outside... Luckily, deep space is the absolute definition of secluded!
Yes, it's far from PC, but I don't think many will be offended by the artist's love for drawing heavenly bodies. The sexy spacechick trope is a longstanding favourite, harking back to Jane Fonda's Barbarella in 1969. Why shouldn't a spacesuit be figure-hugging? Why can't space boots have high heels? This is harmless titillation without being crude, and the character is no airhead bimbo, she is very much the take-charge type. Just add a touch of Sigourney Weaver and the cliché is absolved. Sort of.
When she is not exposing herself to the universe, E-Stella is hunting for a new home for the people of a devastated Earth. Distrustful of the authorities, she prefers to forge her own path through the stars... but destiny seems to be unlikely to leave her to her own devices.
All this plays out against a colourfully rendered starscape backdrop, and Doidge makes full use of all the graphical bag of tricks available to create glowing force fields, holograms and other high-tech sci-fi elements that give the work a zappy, polished look. Our heroine's only companions on her voyage are the ship itself (with whom she has long, meaningful conversations, although it responds with R2D2-like bleep tones that only she can understand) and its compliment of cute bots who perform a variety of functions on board...
There is drama and mystery here, but the tone is light and fun. Mostly the focus is on the art. Doidge delights in drawing the female figure in a variety of poses and positions as E-Stella runs, jumps, floats, fights and performs other novel manoeuvres made possible by adjustable gravitational fields. The pages glow with colours, and shifting viewpoints keep it fresh and engaging for the reader. The action scenes have a great sense of motion, pulling you along for the ride.
There's a funny little twist at the end, hopefully heralding a continuation of the antagonist's saga? In any case, this is a very promising debut.
Zak Webber
Twitter - @sfcomicartist / Instagram - @sfcomicartist
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Fantastic to see my work reviewed so well and great to see the focus on the project was so well received.
ReplyDeleteOne note the page count should be 150 odd pages as opposed to 70 odd.
Thank you so much for this review, great to see E-Stella can find an audience in the wide wide world of comics.
For more be sure to follow me on @marcusdoidge.art