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Showing posts from April, 2022

Review: Ossuary

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"In Hrensif there is a farm. You will take my sibling's herd from Hrensif in the south to Herschem in the north. In Herschem my sibling's herd will bathe in the waters of Vrenham. It is the ossuary of our ancestors. Once the herd is arrived at the ossuary your obligation is complete." It sounds pretty straightforward. In order to seal a business deal with the Dlivinians, they require a favour. The two humans on the station have little choice in the matter; nobody else will buy what they are selling. Dlivinians are a very odd race, however, and are willing to trade, but the "ritual formality" must be completed. Ossuary by writer Derrick Freeland and artist Savannah Ervin takes us to a distant world that is alien not only in terms of its landscape and biology but also its culture. The Dlivinians are a curious species; bipedal non-humanoids resembling upright squids dressed in robes. They maintain space stations in orbit of their planet but they also hold ont...

Review: Knight Run

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I fight to protect. However, the principle of battle lies in loss. That principle ... never changes  Year 430 of the Space Calendar. Humanity's colonisation of the universe is met with resistance from the 'monsters'; a formidable race of multiform aliens with diverse combat capabilities. Each planet taken over by the monsters becomes the site of a nest, centered around a queen who produces vast armies of soldier drones. Of the many different combat monster types, the most powerful are the high-level, single-digit class such as the Bluering; a semi-humanoid metallic creature with blade-like limbs and wings, very strong and fast, capable of literally decapitating Allied soldiers and their mechas. Anne Myer is a Knight, one of the elite warriors who fights against the high-level monsters with a specialised weapon - the 'AB sword' - which is made of a unique material that can peneteate their defensive shielding. She and her fellow Knight Pray are veterans of the war, d...

Review: End Over End

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"Your convictions will unmake you in the end. They may feel like a strength, but they are, in truth, a burden. One you will hold onto for the rest of your days. And hold on as tight as you like, the burden you carry just spins with you, making your inertia its own, turning you end over end, until there's nothing left but a half-remembered dream." She is the High Regent of Mytharia, a land that is tearing itself apart around her... No, she is the captain of a starship 200 light years from Earth, facing a mysterious phenomenon... No, she is the superheroine Skeletara, battling the evil Crimson Spectre... No. She is an ordinary woman, facing a very ordinary catastrophe. End Over End by writer/artist Derrick Freeland is one woman's tortuous journey through a series of fantastical landscapes as she searches for a way out of the nightmares that surround her. Each scenario, each reality is like a layer of confusion. She is at the heart of nested, concentric worlds, like a R...

Review: Hypernova

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"Now I traverse the galaxy, immortal. Philanthropically! Like Gilgamesh with my partner Watson on this sky chariot!" Mark Redcliff, a.k.a. Hypernova, is a space traveller from Earth. One day a UFO crashed near a Native American village, its occupant severely injured. Mark saved the alien and earned its gratitude. As a reward he was given a spaceship to explore the universe, plus robot companion Watson (who resembles a mechanical anthropomorphic insect) to aid him on his missions. Hypernova by writer/artist Mike Bennett is a quirky, snappy tale with a distinct Silver Age nostalgic vibe. Our hero voyages to strange, new worlds in his retro-cool ship, meets bizarre aliens and has dramatic, fantastical adventures. Landing on a planet populated by tribal lizard people Mark and Watson have a mystery to solve... and a world to save. Cue archetypal villains, monsters, a shape-shifting beauty, a crystal of mysterious power and all manner of highly improbable escapades. This offerin...

Review: Adventures of Cat Passmore Sub:Human

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School teachers may not be the most obvious choice for adventures in the outer reaches of space and time, but it is certainly a profession that requires resourcefulness, wisdom and the ability to rise to any challenge... Substitute teacher Cat is facing unemployment on the last day of school at Seymore Fictione High in the town of Mystery Beach, California. Meanwhile, in the outer solar system, an intergalactic school bus is having some engine trouble and needs to make an emergency landing for repairs. The third planet seems like the best option... Adventures of Cat Passmore Sub:Human by writer/artist Will Meugnoit is a fun romp with a colourful cast of characters. Cat is a pretty young redhead with a love for teaching, sharp wits and a generous nature. Fate places her in the right place at the right time - with, due to some strangely fortunate circumstances, exactly the right supplies - to help out the stranded alien children (a diverse bunch of non-humanoid beings). She also saves t...

Review: Dre Saturn - Child of the Orb

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"You may be a great racer, Dre - but you have no drive." Andre - or Dre Saturn as he is known by his fans - is a successful competitor in the infamous Motor Kill Race, a high-stakes, high-octane - and highly illegal - race that takes place on the Moon. A mechanic by day, the eighteen year old dices with death on his souped-up red space bike, the Speed Tyrant.  When his girlfriend and best friend are both accepted by Uranium Scholar University he begins to wonder if he should do something more meaningful with his life.  Could his destiny lie out among the stars? Meanwhile, far away in another part of the galaxy, the planet Xstasi is attacked by a pirate ship. Lord Czarr, the leader of the raiders, is keen to get his hands on the mysterious Omega Orb, an object of great power. He and his multispecies crew of alien marauders soon defeat the planetary defences and claim the prize... but the Orb cannot be harnessed by just anybody. Czarr gazes into the strange artefact and sees a ...

Review: Astrion

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Power and death. One is impossible without the other. 2347: the planet Mahonia is in the grip of a desperate energy crisis. Two decades previously this led to a world war. Veteran Astrion Lin was recruited at the age of fifteen and augmented, turning him into a formidable warrior. Through much bloody conflict, he helped to bring the fighting to an end. Now his wife Karina is the lead scientist trying to save the planet in another way. Her fusion reactors have made a huge difference to life on Mahonia, though they are difficult to maintain and disaster still threatens. Then, in 2340, a new discovery changed everything... A gravity anomaly provided the means to create a portal to a strange new dimension - the 'Dark Sector' - which contains new sources of energy. This is the key to Mahonia's survival, but to exploit this resource the Dark Sector must be explored, and it is a treacherous environment: obscure, stormy and full of strange phenomena.  War hero Astrion has been sele...

Review: In Our Dreams Awake

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Jason Byron is a humble yet talented painter. The nobleman Lord Maximillian is among his patrons. Jason harbours a secret, however; a 'stargazer' (telescope) bequeathed to him by his grandfather. Possession of such an item is forbidden in the society in which he lives; a society in which science is regarded with horror because "Magic is the natural superior!" Jason Byron is the l eader of a cyberpunk gang in a dystopian, half-drowned world filled with rough-hewn thugs and sinister aliens. An uneasy truce exists between humans and "fish" - amphibious humanoids - with the threat of violence hanging in the dank, neon-stained shadows. All could turn to chaos if the secret of the fish is discovered; a hidden spaceship... concealed by his alien lover. Two lives. Two realities. Which one is the fantasy, and which one is the truth? In the Taoist tradition of the Zhuangzi - in which a man wakes from a dream in which he was a butterfly with no knowledge of being huma...

Review: Torch - Reclaim The Skies

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Torch was once the best star pilot in the galaxy - a true kid prodigy - until she was put out to pasture. Now older, retired and bored, she lives with her younger brother Spark, drinking away her pension. That is until one fateful trip to the city lands the duo in hot water - reawakening Torch's thirst for adrenaline! Torch - Reclaim The Skies by writer AJ Rojek and artist Tom Hoskisson follows our heroine as she adjusts - or tries to adjust - to life in the slow lane following her high-octane days as a wartime fighter pilot. To says it's not easy is an understatement. Nothing seems to interest her. Nothing gives her that buzz . She tries to be a good big sister to Spark, but when it comes to living a sedate, safe existence, her heart just isn't in it. The galaxy - or, their world, at least - is a more or less safe place these days. The government of their multispecies planet has become inward-looking, restricting space exploration and emigration. To some this is stifling ...

Review: Predator vs Judge Dredd

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In a way, he admires the creature ... its singleness of purpose, its readiness to take on impossible odds. It must know it can't succeed, can't destroy all of them, yet... in many ways they were similar... his career ... his whole being ... characterised by an unbendable will, an iron determination. Tonight he is determined the predator will be the prey. This crossover comic is an epic juxtaposition of two kindred souls. Both grim, relentless, ruthless warriors, fearless and resourceful in pursuit of their quarry... The Predator, which debuted in the 1987 movie of the same name, is an alien species of hunter who seeks out worthy subjects to stalk. Using highly sophisticated technology, the Predators track down their prey and collect trophies from each kill. Earth is just one big safari park for them to indulge in their bloodsport. Judge Dredd is the much-feared lawman from the 2000AD series of the same name, which debuted in 1977. Operating in the post-nuclear Mega City One (b...

Review: Kaiju Score

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If you are planning a heist, there is one thing that really improves your chances of success: a distraction. And the bigger the prize, the bigger the security surrounding it, so you're going to need a really big distraction... And they don't come much bigger than a kaiju! Kaiju : a large (and I mean really huge, bigger than a tall building) monster in the Japanese tokusatu sci-fi movie tradition (involving lots of special effects, action and drama). A kaiju can be a mutant created by nuclear energy (ie: Godzilla, the original), a prehistoric beast thawing from a glacier, an alien behemoth, etc... The origin is less important than what follows, which is the creature's inevitable rampage through a heavily-populated city, full of screaming civilians as the military tries, in vain, to halt its advance. Bad for business, bad for the city's infrastructure, certainly, but a humungous scaly reptile crushing tower blocks as it lumbers dumbly forward sure is extremely distract...