Science Fiction. Sci Fi. SF. It's a genre with incredible flexibility, isn't it? This month alone, I have been able to locate a space opera, a farce, a post-apocalyptic road trip, and a fantastic fairytale that all fit comfortably under the label of Science Fiction. (An interesting side note: Japan seems to be having a huge impact on Science Fiction comics in America today. Of the four comics below, one is directly imported from Japan, and two others are obviously influenced by the art of manga -- Japanese comic books.) While I wait for some capable soul to revive the straight Western in comics, I'll be content knowing that the popular genre of SF is well represented every month in PREVIEWS.
 

GALAXION #1-5 (Helikon Comics)

What say we open with a bold statement?

 GALAXION is the best self-publishing debut of 1997.

 Did I get your attention?

Good.

 Now let's see if I can get you to buy the book.

 Traditionally, I would now argue that GALAXION is a startlingly original piece stretching the boundaries of the science fiction genre. However, I'll be the first to admit that it is very derivative of other works. A cursory flip through the art reveals it to be imitation manga of the ROBOTECH ilk. A quick scan of the dialogue highlights riffs written in the military/scientific cadence of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Even the main plot -- the first hyperspace exploration -- has been done before in books, movies and other comics. Still, writer/artist Tara Jenkins has infused all these elements with her own style and sensibilities to create an engaging tale filled with interesting characters. Yes, I'm the first to admit it's derivative, but I'm also the first to argue that GALAXION is greater than the sum of its parts.

Two very strong influences are evident in the two levels of Jenkins' artwork. The characters are drawn in a watered-down Japanese manga/anime style: big eyes, pointed chins, wild hair, and long limbs. Fortunately, Jenkins does not exaggerate to the degree found in many Japanese comics, making the characters decidedly more realistic than cartoony. The characters are distinctive and well-delineated. (A cheat sheet containing character sketches, names and descriptions at the start of each issue also helps considerably.) Jenkins' backgrounds, on the other hand, seem slightly off-kilter, lacking the meticulous detail often found in manga. Instead, the rooms, machinery, and landscapes behind Jenkins' characters look a bit loopy. Maybe, I'm just reading too much into an appearance of "Oh, the Places You'll Go" in the first issue, but Jenkins seems to be channelling the "Cat in the Hat" creator, giving us science fiction as drawn by Dr. Seuss. My prime example is the spaceship Galaxion itself, which has appeared in only two panels in the entire series. The Galaxion is shaped like a seashell. This confounding visual has not been explained or elaborated upon, though it sticks out like a sore thumb.

 Jenkins' writing also has its obvious influences. Like her art, however, Jenkins simply uses these influences as a starting point -- a way to touch base with the reader. Spaceships, hyperspace exploration, and military versus scientific conflict are venerable plot icons that Jenkins uses deftly to form the structural basis of her tale. She may be using familiar threads from "Star Trek" or other science fiction tales, but the tapestry she weaves is definitely her own.

 Getting down to the nuts and bolts, GALAXION is the story of Aria Schaffer, a geologist of an alien contact team aboard the spaceship Galaxion. A scientific vessel, the Galaxion has been commandeered by the military to be the third-ever ship to travel through hyperspace. The civilian captain has been demoted and replaced by a military commander who is on a personal mission: General Scavina Nelson hopes to discover the fate of her husband who disappeared along with the first ship to travel through hyperspace. When Galaxion makes its first jump, all aboard are surprised to find themselves still within the solar system. They are shocked when they return to Earth to discover it destroyed by a centuries-past war. Aria and her team are dispatched to the war-torn Earth to find answers to troubling questions: Has the Galaxion travelled into the future? Or has it shifted between dimensions? Or has hyperspace opened a porthole into the realms of dreaming and imagination? Frankly, I'm on the edge of my seat awaiting the answer.

 My anticipation of the next GALAXION is a function of Jenkins' superb pacing, dialogue, and characters. The reader is thrown right into the middle of the action, with a single flashback and several believable conversations between characters to fill us in on their backgrounds. Each character has a distinct personality -- you won't find two-dimensional cardboard cut-outs here. Jenkins is developing her characters slowly and carefully. Indeed, I'm dying to learn more about every member of the Galaxion's crew, and I know Jenkins has plenty to reveal. Some of those revelations have already occurred outside the GALAXION title. GALAXION completists will need to track down a copy of THIEVES & KINGS #16 (I Box Publishing), which contains a prequel story about the second ship to be equipped with hyperspace technology and features some familiar crew members.

 GALAXION took me by surprise and captured my imagination. I'd been buying GALAXION for six months, but hadn't actually gotten around to reading it until last week. Stupid, silly me. Y'see, I had missed number one and didn't want to read the rest until I bought it. Then I found out that the entirety of #1 is available on the GALAXION web page (see address below) and decided to sample it digitally. By the time I finished the fifth issue, the only thought that kept going through my mind was, "This is good! This is damn good!" I suggest you surf on over there, read the first issue for yourself, then frantically start buying anything with GALAXION printed on the cover.
 
 

_____

Grade: B+

(GALAXION SPECIAL #1 is solicited this month in PREVIEWS on page 280!)

(The Galaxion webpage is at http://www.interlog.com/~dtallan/galaxion/default.htm. Surf on over and read the entire first issue and review a complete roster of character profiles.)

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SMITH BROWN JONES #1-5 (Kiwi Studios)

Aliens are among us . . . and they are television staples. Mork. ALF. The old guy from "My Favorite Martian." The goofballs of "Third Rock from the Sun." Now comic books has it's own version of these sitcoms in the phenomenally funny SMITH BROWN JONES.

 Smith Brown Jones is a green, noseless alien accountant who has come to Earth to assess its eligibility for entrance into the galactic community. As he conducts his research, he has decided to hide in plain sight. Rather than cover up his green skin, Jones simply plugs a fake nose in the middle of his face and heads off to work as a reporter for the UFO section of a trashy weekly tabloid. Rather than being suspicious, everyone around Jones merely assumes he's really into his work.

 Writer/artist Jon "Bean" Hastings is a gifted humorist. Issue #1 is hilarious, juxtaposing a paranoid Pentagon report on the threat of alien activity with Jones' mundane daily life. Issues #2-5 find Jones on the run from an alien hitman after uncovering a sinister -- yet incompetent -- alien conspiracy. The resulting brouhaha is a wonder to behold. I found myself repeatedly laughing out loud and forcing my wife to listen to my vocal interpretation of several outstanding passages. The writing is supported by a terrific cartooning style reminiscent of the great Phil Foglio (BUCK GODOT, ANGEL AND APE, and MYTH ADVENTURES).

 I was so happy to see SMITH BROWN JONES return to the PREVIEWS catalog this month. After self-publishing the first SMITH BROWN JONES mini-series in late-1996/early-1997, Hastings took a break to get married and reevaluate his publishing strategy. Now he has moved into the Slave Labor Graphics stable to produce the sequel. You can bet it's gonna be on my order form!

_____

Grade: B+

(SMITH BROWN JONES: ALIEN ACCOUNTANT #1 is solicited this month by Amaze Ink/Slave Labor Graphics in PREVIEWS on page 200!)

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THE LEGEND OF MOTHER SARAH #1-8 (Dark Horse Comics)
THE LEGEND OF MOTHER SARAH: CITY OF THE CHILDREN #1-7 (Dark Horse Comics)
THE LEGEND OF MOTHER SARAH: CITY OF THE ANGELS #1-3 (Dark Horse Comics)

When I reviewed BLACKJACK (Dark Angel Productions) last month in this column, I asked you to imagine the role of Indiana Jones recast with actor Ving Rhames. That was so much fun, I thought we'd try the exercise again. To give you an impression of THE LEGEND OF MOTHER SARAH, this time I'm going to ask you to recast Mel Gibson's Mad Max character with a strong woman such as Lucy Lawless or Sigourney Weaver. Oh, yes indeedy, Sarah is a butt-kicking road warrior wandering a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Unlike, Mel, however, Sarah has a mission: searching for her lost children.

 The world in THE LEGEND OF MOTHER SARAH has been contaminated by nuclear war. Two political factions arose on space stations full of evacuees orbiting the Earth in the wake of the atomic aftermath: technofascists calling themselves "Epoch" and radical environmentalists calling themselves "M. E." (for "Mother Earth). Epoch's scientists have caused the Earth to tilt on its axis in an effort to move the irradiated continents to the poles where they will be safely buried under new polar icecaps. Land which was formerly frozen and barren will, they hope, become fruitful and valuable. In the chaos of the civil war, families were torn apart as evacuees were rushed to the Earth to claim and resettle the lands in the names of the opposing sects. Sarah's family was one of those which was shattered.

 Amidst the ongoing civil war and environmental upheaval, Sarah wanders the new face of the planet Earth in search of her three missing children. Sarah's transportation is provided by an unscrupulous trader and arms smuggler named Tsue, with whom she has made a fragile alliance at some untold point in the past. While Tsue peddles his wares (which include everything except love and courage, as he is fond of repeating), Sarah wanders through the crowds of Tsue's patrons looking for leads to her missing children. Her fierce determination to succeed in her quest is undercut only by her motherly tendencies, which constantly draw her into the lives of children in danger. And in a world of chaos, there are many endangered children. Fortunately for the children, Sarah is remarkably strong and fights ferociously in hand-to-hand combat.

 In the first LEGEND OF MOTHER SARAH mini-series, entitled "Tunnel Town" we are introduced to Sarah as she rides across a vast desert to a buried city, which is being excavated by M. E. forces and their enslaved Epoch prisoners. Sarah is befriended by a young girl named Lucia and her troubled boyfriend, an M.E. soldier who has been dismissed in shame. Lucia helps irrigate her grandfather's farm by carrying water up from a spring deep in the dug out city. While accompanying Lucia, Sarah stumbles across a cache of gold bars in a buried bank vault. Through the boyfriend's stupidity, Sarah is soon fighting to save all their lives as they are caught up in a whirlwind of gold fever and a prisoner revolt.

 In "City of the Children," the second LEGEND OF MOTHER SARAH mini-series, Sarah's quest brings her to an icy Epoch army base manned solely by teenage boys. In the thrall of a charismatic young leader, the boys enslave adults to mine old containers of nuclear waste needed to power a salvaged atomic generator. In short order, Tsue and Sarah are captured, put to work, beaten repeatedly, and subjected to the leader's insane sexual tortures. Sarah must end this mad cult of personality if she is to survive and the children are to be free. Also, flashbacks throughout this story arc reveal the fate of Sarah's fourth child, a suckling infant.

 In the most recent mini-series, "City of the Angels," Sarah and Tsue arrive at a busy Epoch army tank refueling station. In the bustling traffic, Sarah saves a young nun from being crushed under the tracks of an oncoming tank, seemingly by stopping the behemoth with one hand. The nun and her fellow sisters are convinced they have seen a miracle. Sarah sees the pubescent nuns submitting to prostitution in order to finance their church, and she is convinced she is seeing exploitation. Violent confrontations and narrow escapes are sure to follow.

 Whew! That was a considerable amount of plot summary, huh? How about some opinions now?

Well, I like it.

For starters, the concept behind THE LEGEND OF MOTHER SARAH is very cool. A hero who protects children pushes one of my favorite buttons. I despise child abuse and exploitation; and I think saving a child from harm is one of the most heroic acts possible. That the hero in this particular comic is a strong, capable woman who does NOT dress in a thong, pasties, high heels, and fishnet stockings is also a huge plus. (By the way, if the idea of a protector of children appeals to you, I cannot recommend highly enough the hard-boiled crime novels of Andrew Vachss. His Burke character is a killer and con-man whose single sliver of redemption is his personal crusade against child pornography and sexual exploitation.)

 Next up, the art in THE LEGEND OF MOTHER SARAH is fantastic. Takumi Nagayasu's realistic style is heavily detailed yet remains fluid. His characters' faces and their body language are particularly expressive. This is extremely important when the lead character's grim demeanor is usually only broken by the slightest of frowns or smiles. Nagayasu has quickly joined the ranks of my favorite Japanese artists: Ryoichi Ikegami (SANCTUARY, MAI THE PSYCHIC GIRL, CRYING FREEMAN) and Goseki Kojima (LONE WOLF AND CUB).

 Only the superficial nature of the stories in THE LEGEND OF MOTHER SARAH is slightly disappointing. Writer Katsuhiro Otomo is most famous for writing and drawing the Japanese manga epic, AKIRA (Epic/Marvel Comics). He brings his trademark non-stop action to THE LEGEND OF MOTHER SARAH, but I don't think it works as well here as it did in AKIRA. The characters in AKIRA were so shallow, the action was really the star in that comic -- and that was all right. In Sarah, meanwhile, Otomo has created a character so interesting, I found myself getting frustrated waiting for little droplets of character development between the numerous action sequences. Also, the Lone Ranger plots (come to a new town, befriend some people, get in trouble, save the day, leave town) might get old pretty soon if Sarah doesn't start making some progress on her quest. Overall though, I'm largely mollified by the fact that the adventure stories are put together fairly well.

 THE LEGEND OF MOTHER SARAH is an enjoyable and unique series. It's easily among the best Japanese imports I've ever come across. My only wish is that it would be issued in monthly trade paperbacks so I could learn more about Sarah faster. In the meantime, you should try the "Tunnel Town" collection and see if you can resist joining Sarah on her quest.

 (p.s. Because of graphic violence and sexual content, THE LEGEND OF MOTHER SARAH is for mature readers only.)

_____

Grade: B-

(THE LEGEND OF MOTHER SARAH: CITY OF THE ANGELS #7 and THE LEGEND OF MOTHER SARAH: TUNNEL TOWN TP are solicited this month in PREVIEWS on page 48!)

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AKIKO #19-22 (Sirius Entertainment)
AKIKO TRADE PAPERBACK VOLUME 1 (Sirius Entertainment)

Alice tumbled down the rabbit hole to Wonderland. Wendy flew via the power of pixie dust to Never Never Land. Dorothy rode a tornado to Oz. And, now, Akiko has rocketed in a spaceship disguised as an ice cream van to the planet Smoo. Welcome to the age of hi-tech fantasy lands.

 AKIKO is an amazing all-ages comic that blends fantasy, science fiction, and children's literature into one tasty concoction. The skeptical adult readers out there may have been skipping AKIKO -- and are about to skip this review, perhaps -- because AKIKO looks child oriented, but I'm here to tell you that this is an "all-ages" book that will absolutely entertain adults as well as kiddies. Writer/artist Mark Crilley's AKIKO stories have as much drama and adventure as any comic being produced today. Sure, the seriousness is leavened by outrageousness and slapstick humor, but it is in no way overridden by that wild streak. That AKIKO is also infused with the wonder and sense of awe of its young female protagonist is a bonus in my eyes.

 Akiko is a fourth-grade schoolgirl who travels to the fantastic world of Smoo to save the day. Smoo, you see, is a planet of dichotomy: on the one hand, its inhabitants have developed advanced technology; but on the other hand, the people of Smoo seem to lack even an iota of common sense. Akiko is the voice of reason, the steady hand, and the font of initiative needed to guide Smoo through its various crises. With the help of the reckless and roguish Spuckler Boach, the learned and cautious Mr. Beeba, and the incomprehensible and bodiless Poog, Akiko crisscrosses the planet getting captured by various exotic cultures. The adventurers invariably escape and achieve their goals through a combination of spunk and luck. (Heavy emphasis on the luck.) Akiko's extended absences from Earth, by the way, are covered by a robotic doppelganger thoughtfully provided by her friends from Smoo.

 Crilley's writing in AKIKO is brisk and humorous. Sure, the plots are simple and depend heavily on capricious turns of luck, but that suits the type of tales Crilley is telling. Once you understand the funky logic of Akiko's adventures, it's easy to suspend disbelief and simply let the torrent of action carry you along. Besides, Crilley is smart enough to reward the reader with plenty of dramatic revelations and thoughtful moments in order to prevent motion sickness. The best part of AKIKO is the character interaction. I'm particularly fond of the amusing personality clash between the over-the-top Spuckler and the head-buried-in-the-sand Mr. Beeba. I also like the innocent, oblivious hypocrisy of the supporting cast as they alternate between condescension and acquiescence toward Akiko, sometimes in the same breath.

I can almost justify purchasing AKIKO based solely on the pictures. While a Japanese manga influence is obvious, Crilley's linework is still very unique. His major strength is in distinctive character design. Akiko has big, black button eyes and a nub of a nose, while many of the side characters look like they've just stepped off the "Muppet Show." Crilley's monsters and alien critters are truly bizarre and wonderful. His spectacular sense of design is also showcased in elaborately detailed backgrounds. Castles, fortresses, ruins, villages, and vehicles are rendered with care rarely seen outside of such visual masterpieces as Dave Sim and Gerhard's CEREBUS (Aardvark-Vanaheim) or Katsuhiro Otomo's AKIRA (Epic/Marvel Comics). Though printed in black and white, Crilley adds incredible depth to AKIKO through masterful toning and shading. This guy has the complete package, folks.

 I usually try to review only comics where I have read the entire series. In this case, however, the eleven issues of AKIKO I've read are so delightful I can't help but rush a recommendation, especially when so many of AKIKO's back issues will be available this month. I'll be ordering the ones I'm missing. I strongly suggest that you follow suit.

_____

Grade: B

(It's an AKIKO bonanza! AKIKO ON THE PLANET SMOO SC, AKIKO COLLECTORS PACK #13-16, and AKIKO COLLECTORS PACK #17-20 are all solicited this month in PREVIEWS on page 221!)

(Mark Crilley's AKIKO homepage is at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/6912/. Generous portions of art and backstory are served here. Belly on up!)

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