SCI-FI COMIC NEXUS

After a long period of machine rule, Earth has become a reservation for the way life had once been. The embargo protecting humanity's homeworld from the insidious technology that affords the rest of civilisation life amongst the stars has been corrupted and the Athena-class Marshal is sent to investigate. Frontier Forever - Regenesis  by writer Ben Krieger and artist Gianmaria Orlandi is a cyberpunk Western set on an Earth transformed beyond recognition. Technology is strictly limited. A few megacities remain, sealed under domes, but most people live in towns or settlements resembling 19th century American colonies. One such is Mechanicsburg, ruled over by smuggler kingpin Mister Morton, who is illegally creating weapons using migrant labourers with computer-brain interface tech.  To counter this affront to the natural order, Earth's steward the Matron (an elderly nun in a luxurious orbiting spacecraft) has initiated the production of the Athena-class Marshal, a genetically en...

"For thousands of years we have scratched and clawed our way across every inch of space. Throughout every corner of the galaxy. We went opening doors we shouldn't have. Pushing the limits of our own understanding of our place in the universe... We were never meant to come here and now we will never leave." Speed of Light from Evoluzione Publishing, brought to you by producer by Marcel Dupree, is a bi-monthly science fiction anthology comic magazine (72 x black and white pages: 9 x 8-page stories; some serialised, some standalone. Issue one hits the ground running with a very satisfying collection of stories, some light and whimsical, most edgy and a little disturbing. The reader will be keen to know what happens next in these extraordinary tales. Here we have a nightmarish dystopia, a moon with a dazzling mystery, a battle between robots and wizards, a world torn apart by shimmering spacetime rifts, an investigator tracking an insidious space parasite, droids on the run,...

"Don't think. React." It's the Eighties. Gillian is a glamorous young mercenary and she has just stolen a car. Not just any old vehicle, either, this is a high-tech, state-of-the-art supercar: very fast, virtually indestructible and with a built-in computer that can interface with the mind of the driver... As she races along a high pass next to a lake she is pursued by thugs with guns. Bullets bounce off this fortress-on-wheels and, with a sharp manoeuvre, the goons crash into it and burst into flame. The driver smiles... until she crosses a bridge and sees a helicopter gunship bearing down on her. A missile destroys the bridge and the supercar falls into the lake, undamaged but with a drowning occupant. Gillian struggles to escape but in vain. There is a flash of light... and then darkness for a long time. It's the present day. Jim is a hulking ex-con working in a scrapyard. His young son has chronic kidney failure and he and his ex-wife have little in the way o...

Being a teenager is fraught with challenges. Being sixteen and moving home with your dad and kid sister to a distant town and starting a new school is bound to throw many more of those challenges your way: being the awkward new kid, making new friends, dealing with bullies, having to look out for said kid sister, having to follow Dad's dumb rules, having to hide the piece of alien technology you found in a crashed UFO... Okay, that last one probably wasn't quite so typical, but for Jason King his first week in a new school is about to become far from ordinary. Armor by writer Marcel Dupree and artists Joel Cotejar and Danielle Cosentino is an action adventure meets teen drama, two worlds colliding with explosive results. Far out in the void of space, a war between two races has raged for many years. Scientist Kizan Je'diah of Weaporopara has created a new weapon that could shift the balance of power and bring an end to the war. Lord Novaden of the enemy side naturally want...

A group of large space stations orbit Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, prized for its wealth of natural resources and a potential candidate for terraforming. Two years ago one of the stations was deliberately destroyed... Alpha has a piece of advanced technology fixed to his left arm; it is of Martian design, given to him by his father. His parents are dead now, and he is alone with his sister Ri. Enhanced is a Modified (or 'mutie'), taking part in a protest. She is risking her life; the security forces are prepared to use deadly force to quell the demonstration. Bones is a Pure, watching the protest from afar with his brother Glass. The Pure see themselves as racially superior to all other forms of life - especially muties - but when Bones and Glass get caught up in the ensuing  mêlée , it is the time for some very odd alliances to be made... The Saturn Effect: Alpha by writer Chris Moses and artist Francesco Mazzoli is a complex action drama set against a dizzying, high-t...

"When you meet someone, you never think of the last time you'll see them... The last time you'll hear their voice... All the guilt and regret when they're gone." 2120: Saturn's largest moon Titan is the site of Earth colonisation, orbited by several space stations. The only moon in the solar system with an atmosphere, it is viewed as a good candidate for terraforming. But all is not rosy in the garden... Ajax and Helena are on a mission to sabotage one of the stations. Ajax distracts the defence fighters while Helena's shuttle lays charges. But for what reason? They grew up on New New York, a floating city and the hub of the solar system. Ajax's father was a veteran of the war between Earth and Mars, a war that ended with independence for Mars and ownership of the Titan colonies for Earth. The war is over, thanks to Martian leader Dane Jericho, a sinister figure who has now found microbial life on Jupiter's moon Europa. Something about the newly di...

Got an infestation? A little pest problem? Of the large, dangerous, extraterrestrial kind? Who ya gonna call? Heath Huston is your go-to guy. He may be a whiskey-drenched Texan redneck but he sure knows how to kill all manner of aggressive aliens... He should: he's a veteran of the war that wiped out nearly all life on Earth. Ten years ago his father and son were both killed when two warring races brought their conflict to his backyard. He led a group of survivors fighting back against the invaders. His band called themselves the 'Fear Agents', paying the aliens back some of the terror visited upon them.  Between the Tetaldians (organic brains in robot bodies) and the Dressites (green slime creatures in cybernetic suits), both toting hi-tech weaponry, it was a wonder anyone did come out of it alive, but finally the nightmare came to an end. Unfortunately one of the costs of victory was Huston's relationship with his wife.  Deciding to make good use of his skills, he hir...

Our universe is fractured into the Four Horsemen's sick whims, a cracked mirror of sentient life's deepest lusts and fears, made manifest in excess. Earth is a reservation kept "safe" by a corrupt Alien Government, trying to maintain it's facist control over what "free" galaxy is left, by any means necessary. Humanity lives, cowers, and makes do, alongside alien refugees and pilgrims, behind the impenetrable walls of New Deadwood. When reality belongs to Evil, Heroes are INEVITABLE . 2076 and it's Armageddon... and not one of your namby-pamby metaphorical armageddons; this here is the real deal with your actual Four Horsemen: War, Famine, Pestilence and Death.  According to the alien Anu Confederation, these embodiments of evil are an inevitable part of every sentient species' development: " Creatures born of blackened thought-form, made manifest from our own obsessions."  The purpose of these beings is to perpetuate a perverted versio...

Earth is our past. Mars is our present. Venus is our future. In the near future, Earth is devastated by a chain of cataclysmic events leading to a pandemic collapse of governments. The human race narrowly escapes Earth with technology amassed by mega-corporations, and colonizes Mars and Venus. As Venus becomes home to the working class, and Mars the seat of power, long-running political and cultural clashes return. Talk of revolution permeates the ether. Humankind finds itself once again at the crossroads of extinction as... VENUS RISES. Terry Holden is captain of the salvage vessel Cattywompus , owned by the mighty Shirokawa Corporation, subcontracted to the Inner Planet Transport Association. In orbit of Venus they receive a distress call from a passenger ship that is stranded without power after being hit by a micrometeroid. The Cattywompus takes the job and heads in to offer assistance. In the Eurybia city dome on Mars, Hollister Pelt prepares for an important meeting. He is an as...

Between the pockets of unified space and allied systems lie the open expanses collectively known as Roguespace. Unpatrolled by Interstellar authorities, these wild frontier sectors are home to all those who exist outside the system and operate outside the law... The Khoruysa Brimia is a freighter specialising in not-altogether-legal shipments, currently working for gangsters. En route to a rendezvous in the Gamelon system the multispecies crew receives a distress call from the ship from which they are due to transfer cargo. The ship is under attack by marauders. With the cargo at risk, the Khoruysa Brimia increases speed to race to its defence. When they arrive they find the ship deserted but the cargo mostly intact: several large cylindrical containers. One of these has broken, spilling fluid onto the deck. Lying in the fluid is a young female humanoid with blue skin. Is she crew, passenger... or cargo? The marauders return - old rivals of Captain Roka - but our heroes prevail and se...

"How many times do I have to tell you, boy? THE NIGHT BITES!" Many years after the Third World War the planet is a wasteland with the few survivors living within walled cities. Monstrosities prowl the 'parched lands' outside... monstrosities that used to be people. Writer/artist Oliver G. Francisco's Parched Earth Chronicles is an anthology of four stories set in this dark post-apocalypse. Each is illustrated in stark monochrome, predominantly black, each disturbing panel sculpted from hungry, devouring shadows. Figures are drawn with a loose, expressive energy, sometimes edging over into the comical, but all the more macabre for that. In Journeymen an old veteran tells his grandson the story of how the world fell into nightmare and the danger of the horrors outside. In Dreamer a man is seduced by a mysterious female figure who stalks his sleeping hours, calling him to follow her... but to where? In The Runner by guest writer/artist Erik Guzman Pingol an athle...

  "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 ...