SCI-FI COMIC NEXUS

  "Can you see them...?    Th e lights...?   ... They look like holes in the sky..." PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MARYLAND 3.39 PM "All units! All available units! Reports of shots fired at Prince George's Mall." A fast-food worker inexplicably guns down his colleagues, whilst speaking in riddles. An asylum seeker blows himself up on a public street, whilst muttering nonsense. Two Mexican children crossing the border with illegal migrants are the only survivors of a mysterious bloodbath. They are singing an enigmatic rhyme...  Sounds a little strange? To you, maybe, but to FBI special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, strange is par for the course. Starting in 1993, The X-Files is a cultural phenomenon, a science fiction TV show that captured the imagination of fans in a way that no other saga has done, crossing genres to being in elements from detective drama, horror, mythology, religion and - most significantly - conspiracy theories.  One of the most commonl...

Centuries before the Empire, centuries before the Clone Wars, the Galactic Republic spread its benevolent influence throughout the stars. A jedi ship - led by none other than Master Yoda himself - is transporting padawans (jedi trainees) when it receives a distress call. An accident in hyperspace threatens the planet Trymant IV. Rocky debris is raining down on the capital city Bralanak.  Jedis to the rescue!  Star Wars - The High Republic Ad ventures by  writer Daniel Jose Older and artists Harvey  Tolibao and Pow Rodrix  a light-hearted tale of adventure aimed at younger fans. The art style is cartoony with a free feel, yet also conveys the more dramatic moods of the unfolding story. The artists delight in creating detailed spacecraft and hardware, part of the Star Wars charm being its mix of high and low tech aesthetics.  Like many young adult adventures, this tells the tale of two young people thrown together by destiny. Padawan Lula is a high-scorin...

"We're little more than pets to you, aren't we? The lonely alien who picks up a new human puppy when he gets bored of the last one." It is an accusation not without some merit... The Doctor. A time and space travelling eccentric maverick with a blithe disregard for rules and regulations. A renegade Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who flouts the strict non-interference policy of his people, consistently involving himself - and others - in all manner of disputes and disasters, always electing to intervene on the side of mercy, saving the day, saving lives, usually with a fair dash of wit and flourish. And then leaving... Always accompanied by one or two companions: usually human, mostly female, often fairly resourceful in their own right but never entirely 'in the loop' as to what is actually going on, invariably not privy to the Doctor's plans until the very last moment, with danger hanging over their heads pretty much from the moment they step out of t...

Captain's log. Final entry. I don't honestly know if anyone will ever find this recording, never mind understand it. According to Mr Spock, the odds are over seven hundred million to one that in another ten seconds, this entire record will be dust. Along with the man recording it. But I've never been one for odds. So if you somehow did find this, distant listener, know this. These were the voyages of the starship Enterprise... . . . . . . .  All good things come to an end, they say... but of course no ending is really the end. The close of one story is merely the prelude to the beginning of the next. The original 1960s Star Trek TV show was the tale of the Enterprise and her five-year mission, but that mission was never completed on screen. Since the end of the TV series there have been many more adventures written about Kirk and his crew, but they take place in the spaces between the broadcast episodes, thereby preserving continuity with the original material. In Star ...

... on my blog ... many of them FREE to read on-line... scroll through the shots on Instagram and, when you see one that catches your eye, go to the blog and look it up by the date.  Instagram -   https://www.instagram.com/sfcomicartist/ Blog -  https://scificomicnexus.blogspot.com I review  SCIENCE FICTION COMICS , both mainstream and by new, indepoendent writers and artists. Reviews are posted on my blog and then shared acroos Facxebook, Instagram, Twitter and Reddit. Would you like your comic reviewed? Send it to me at scificomicartist@gmail.com ... Include any social media links/hashtags. Once published you can quote the review in all your publicity. Zak

What would happen if we could escape? Six months from now, detailed schematics anonymously uploaded to the Internet will describe, in perfect detail, how to build a faster-than-light engine for $200 in easily-available parts. Space travel will become instantly - and chaotically - democratized. The entire cosmos will be within reach of all humankind. This is what happens next. .......  Freedom means many things to many people. In this anthology each writer is given the same premise and builds a very different story from it. Reading the introduction, I was thinking this might be a refreshing change of direction in most of the sci-fi I come across: Could this be something with an optimistic outlook? Well..... not quite. For sure, there are some inspiring, uplifting tales here, but bright light still casts a shadow. The darker elements here are not neglected. I was not disappointed, however; this is still a fresh, rich and rewarding collection. The emphasis is mostly light-hearted, wit...

Early in the 21 Century, the Tyrell Corporation advanced Robot evolution into the Nexus phase – a being virtually identical to a human – known as a Replicant. Superior in strength and agility, the Replicants were created to be used as off-world slave labor or in the hazardous, high-collateral combat situations or colonization of other planets. Replicants who escaped and returned to Earth were hunted by special police squads – Blade Runner units – with order to kill any trespassing Replicant upon detection. This is the story of the first Blade Runner… ....... 2009, Los Angeles, but not as we know it... LAPD detective Cal Moreaux is called in to investigate the suicide of Dr Lydia Kine, a bioengineer with the Tyrell Corporation. The corporation wants the case dealt with quickly and quietly, and the police department wants the same thing: Tyrell is very rich and very influential. Moreaux's role here is as a "cleaner", someone who will swiftly tidy up the matter and make it g...

Thirteen years ago the Planetary Federation of Azulu was fragmented into three nation states: the Northern Monarchy, a plutocratic oligarchy; Avolon, a theocratic diarchy and the Southern Union of Azulu, a democratic republic. Before the Great Flood the Federation had been in the midst of an investigation regarding a mass grave found several miles from the estate of Taba (current ruler of Avolon). Shortly after she was brought in for questioning Taba prophesied about a great flood ending the unification of the world powers Avola, Phiede and Varset and come the next moon festival a series of explosions destroyed the dams and floodgates and much of the city was destroyed by the rising sea. The wealthy people in the North East hills were largely unaffected while the surviving city folk either fled into the swamplands never to be seen again or were picked off by Taba's followers after they descended from the hills in the east. The survivors unified and formed the Southern Union from th...

           "I believe it is the quiet darkness that has always led me to the hunt..." A sleek, graceful starship approaches the glittering, city-sized Archulus Station amid scattered, rolling asteroids in the vast, dark void. Given clearance to land, it sets down in the shuttle bay and a lone figure emerges: tall, lithe, female, feline... Dressed in cybernetic armour, the only part of her body visible is her long, bushy tail.  The station is home to many aliens, the predominant species being large, shifty-looking crustaceans. There is not a single human in sight. Our heroine makes her way through dark corridors, past the shady and destitute figures lurking in the shadows.Taking the elevator she ascends to the main residential section of the station which consists of a multitude of interconnected skyscrapers. Nonhuman denizens gaze down from balconies. The 'ground' level is a bustling hive of activity: markets, shops and sleazy bars.  Our feline wa...

Nine year old Cal is bored. He lives on the Galaxy Runner 8 starship with his parents, which is pretty cool, except he never gets to leave the ship. He makes friends with Red, a young alien resembling a rhinoceros, and together they plan to 'borrow' an E-pod shuttle and explore the new planet the GR-8 has just arrived at. They'll be back before anyone knows it's gone.. What could possibly go wrong? Plenty, of course! The two youngsters are soon embroiled in plots and piracy and find themselves under fire from - it seems - everyone with an energy weapon. All is not rosy in the garden of the Union, and the boys have stumbled right into the middle of a huge conspiracy. Accompanied by security chief Aziva (armed with her energy blade weapon) and a fugitive former GR captain Roark, they are fighting for their lives on a very inhospitable planet. The stakes are raised even higher when Cal's parents are framed as traitors and thrown off the ship ... only to be sold into...

It is the near future and a literal patriarchy - the New Protectorate - has taken power. Women who displease the men at the top - the Council of Fathers - are labelled non-compliant (NC) and are punished. The worst offenders are shipped out to the Auxiliary Compliance Outpost, an offworld prison popularly known as 'Bitch Planet'.  Former athlete Kamau Kogo arrives with a new batch of prisoners. When fellow inmate Penny Rolle is struck down by one of the guards in an act of casual brutality she joins in the ensuing riot. The authorities note her fighting proficiency and decide to make her the new captain of the prisoners' Megaton team; a brutal sport televised for public entertainment and a source of revenue for the Bureau of Compliance and Corrections.  Welcome to Bitch Planet by writer Kelly Sue DeConnick and artist Valentine de Landro. If the 'F word' is something you find obscene you'd probably better stop reading now because this is feminism writ large. This...