Review: Analog Missions
Apollo wakes up on a radioactive battlefield. He remembers only his name, nothing else. Staring down at him is a group of soldiers, all wearing mechanical masks. They don't know him. Friend or foe? Unknown. But their leader Oberon decides to give him the benefit of the doubt and they give him a mask (he won't survive without one). It looks like a robotic skull.
This is the war on planet Magna between the Technocrats and the Free State. Decades earlier the discovery of 'element X' led to great technological advances (mostly in terms of weapons development) and its scarcity led to conflict. It also caused ecological collapse as the inhabitants excessively mined the planet's crust for more of the elusive substance. The Technocrats have the upper hand thanks to their Generals who have superior battle hardware.
Analog Missions by David Fleming is a monochrome semi-abstract work with a somewhat rough-hewn, organic style with characters who are presented as human but whose real faces we never see. The soldiers are retro warriors, their armour more Mandalorian/Stormtrooper low tech (or no tech) rather than the super-enhanced cybernetics of most of today's science fiction.
Analog sci-fi may sound like an odd concept in the 21st century but it has a certain unique appeal. The human body and brain are both analog machines, so this is the viscreal, tactile nature of our fundamental existence. In Analog Missions the line between flesh and metal is blurred; we never see beneath the armour, so the metallic shells are like an extension of the physical beings of the characters.
Issue One is divided into chapters, each presented as a VCR tape as the story is told in flashback: these are Apollo's non-digital memories. He joins Oberon's team as they make their way through a dark forest towards a Free State base where they will be safe ... but is there any hope against the stalking Generals? Apollo's new friendships may be short-lived.
Will he even live long enough to find out who he is?
Analog Missions on Kickstarter
Get Issue 1 PDF for $2 with promo code 'analog2021' HERE ...
(Enter $5 and promo code, at the payment window it will then reset to $2)
Zak Webber
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