Review: Astral Alliance
How desperate must you be... to make a deal with the devil?
In Astral Alliance, the third part of the Astral 'Thrill3gy' from writer/producer Jay Magnum and artist Ariel Medel, our protagonists face just such a dilemma. Earth has been infiltrated by a 'mimimorph' - a being that can impersonate anyone, even Lila, the Astral/human hybrid at the centre of our story.
Andrews Air Force Base is destroyed by a tall, athletic, dark-skinned woman with an energy weapon for a left-hand. The same individual gains access to AXE Headquarters and kills the Secretary of State (in a very gruesome fashion)...
Our heroes - tough guy DeVane, Russian boy genius Rob and of course out-of-this-world Lila - are soon back in action, battling the evil impostor. Cue more high-octane shenanigans, including a car chase on the freeway with lots of very dangerous driving and a super-powered tête-à-tête involving the rather novel combat technique of picking up automobiles and throwing them at your opponent (a theme that recurs later in the book, in an hommage to a certain iconic classic of comic book legend)...
Once again the Earth is in peril from the mysterious Astrals, but help may be at hand from an unlikely source. When you cannot trust the authorities - military or political - tough decisions need to be made. And some hard sacrifices...
The original cast returns: DeVane's love interest and space scientist Jeannie and her family (including her daughter Angelica, a deaf goth with a bad case of being a teenager, but who manages to make herself useful when not pouting), hard-ass Director Jones and the demonic-looking 'shade' who came from the same downed spacecraft as Lila.
The AXE facility is building a fleet of spaceplanes to face the alien armada waiting in the wings to eradicate humanity... but it seems the Astrals may have other, more subtle plans in store. The enigmatic, goddess-like Architect is pulling the strings, but what is her game?
There are clues that enemies are also closer to home. With humans fighting on the side of the alien race that plans to destroy them it seems the world has gone mad. Time for a crazy solution?
It's another joyride for the gang with lots of action, including a space battle and killer robots. The book delights in every cliché and there are some nods to classic sci-fi action movie moments (Matrix Reloaded, Terminator: Judgement Day) for the reader to enjoy.
There are sombre notes too, however. Winning the war sometimes means losing the battle, and not everyone gets a happy ending. Every victory has its price, and a hero willing to pay it. Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures.... and maybe even an unholy alliance...
SEE ALSO:
Part One: Astral Genesis (FREE!)
Part Two: Astral Evolution
Part Four: Astral Vengeance:
Zak Webber
Twitter - @sfcomicartist / Instagram - @sfcomicartist
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! - SCI-FI COMIC NEXUS
*****
***
*
Comments
Post a Comment