Mike@Pilots Chamber
02-12-2011, 10:36 AM
Taking in comics 13-16 of the ongoing series (unfortunately we haven't got any more adventures with D'Argo or Scorpy on at the moment - and I'd still like to see a 4-issue arc based on D'Argo, Rygel and Zhaan taking Moya before Crichton arrived), the Kkore's invasion plans come into full force as they tackle the Peacekeepers head on.
Events have lead up to this. Scorp is now a Kkore general, though he's not very happy. Meanwhile, Aeryn has unexpectedly found herself the new Peacekeeper commandant and Chi has run off with bounty hunter Roiin, trying to convince him to stop hunting Deke.
As we start, the Kkore decide to pay a little visit by Hynerian space. Rygel decides to pre-empt them and run away. The Kkore don't care and capture him anyway. Meanwhile, as head of the PKs, Aeryn consolidates her forces - including Braca (yay). It's not much, especially with the revelation that Scorpy's batting for the other team. Unfortunately Grayza decides she wants it back. Grayza's lengthy mutiny of about 15 seconds does more to strengthen the PKs under Aeryn's rule than anything else and subsequently commandant cleavage (and child, who at the moment has no name) are banished. In a bit of a plot twist, Sikozu receives a message from Scorpius- he's advised the Kkore to take out her race, the Kalish. Sikozu is now an endangered species and he urges her to side with the Kkore. Back to business. Doesn't last long. The Kkore arrive and start the slaughter, taking down admiral Josbek's carrier (Josbek being the guy who put Aeryn in charge). Meanwhile, Scorpius is becoming more and more disillusioned with the Kkore's plans - they basically intend to take everything by force. Back in the battle, an escape is planned. Next to die - Kirlix. Didn't much care. Next to die - Sikozu! She rams two enemy vessels in order to let the Leviathans that the PKs have fled to starburst to safety, saying that she has nothing to live for now her species is dead. The PKs escape and take refuge with a flotilla of migrating Leviathans - they can't stay with them forever and Aeryn's confidence is shaken. Crichton manages to cheer her up and then goes to get reinforcements - a lot of them. The PKs also now have the ability to communicate without the Kkore eavesdropping. Aeryn then sends out a message for everyone willing to fight to come find them. Back with Scorpy, he sees the Kkore executing the Grennij, who have outlived their usefulness, and wonders when his turn is coming. As Rygel remembers prayers that Zhaan used to say about the Kkore, he decides to flee the Kkore with the deposed dominar to find the weapon that will destroy them...
... and during all this, Roiin can't call the people who hired him to kill Deke, and Noranti's third eye opens up prematurely.
Righty-dokey then. Strange one this. It seems basically to be setting things up for a larger storyline, which I guess it is. I'm not going to fault the story except with two things which don't quite gel (but I guess I'll forgive them for the moment) - Zhaan *was* scared at times and she never mentioned the Kkore. Nevertheless, I guess they're new to the comic so to expect them in the series would have been expecting the Farscape crew to have Dune-like levels of prescience. Also, what is the weapon Scorpy's talking about? It's in a part of space the Kkore have avoided. The Eidolons? Maybe. Doubtful. But then, anything else, why didn't Scorpy use it on the Scarrans in the first place?
Other than that, the storyline flows along brilliantly. Chi and Roiin are slowly filling in the pieces, but they need a larger part. Grayza's momentary mutiny actually works in the story and I can see why it was put in - Grayza needed to be humiliated and Aeryn's position solidified. We get rid of some of the unneeded new characters. Scorpius takes action. But by far and away the best part was Sikozu. Her hearing the message from Scorpy has to be one of the best parts of the Farscape comics so far and her death was sad too. She was probably the character I felt had grown the most in the comics and will be missed. Damn, we've got next to none of the original characters left.
The artwork and colouring is... good, in places. Will and Zac have a lot of the faces and people down to a tee (though bizarrely Scorpius gains black eyes from time to time, which I don't particularly mind). The expressions are nigh-on perfect on a lot of the characters - heck, even Grayza, a minor inconvenience in this arc and demanding of little face time, looks exactly as she should. I still have a problem in, I'm not sure, maybe just how bold everything is? Can't quite put my finger on it - I don't like the big black outlines in a lot of things - makes the characters stand out and not look part of their environment. That said, I'm rubbish at drawing, what do I know? There was one scaling problem that irks me, though just in one shot. But the rest was good. As said, the expressions rock. Also, I know I've said this before, but are some of the ships CG? It does look like it to me, especially the Grennij ships.
Covers - the quality is very good. All done by regular Joe Corroney, but unfortunately they're all montages. No epic action shots. If I had to pick a favourite it would have to be 15, with Moya being pursued and Crichton and Aeryn.
So, how do we rate this one? It's good. It's got a solid story. Major stuff happens. It's a decent length. It's got some good artwork. But it's just the first part of a major story. I'm not going to criticise it's length - it is in fact the perfect length and paced well. But it's just building us up. It does it's job well though. I will give it a 3 out of 5. It's not brilliant. It's good.
Events have lead up to this. Scorp is now a Kkore general, though he's not very happy. Meanwhile, Aeryn has unexpectedly found herself the new Peacekeeper commandant and Chi has run off with bounty hunter Roiin, trying to convince him to stop hunting Deke.
As we start, the Kkore decide to pay a little visit by Hynerian space. Rygel decides to pre-empt them and run away. The Kkore don't care and capture him anyway. Meanwhile, as head of the PKs, Aeryn consolidates her forces - including Braca (yay). It's not much, especially with the revelation that Scorpy's batting for the other team. Unfortunately Grayza decides she wants it back. Grayza's lengthy mutiny of about 15 seconds does more to strengthen the PKs under Aeryn's rule than anything else and subsequently commandant cleavage (and child, who at the moment has no name) are banished. In a bit of a plot twist, Sikozu receives a message from Scorpius- he's advised the Kkore to take out her race, the Kalish. Sikozu is now an endangered species and he urges her to side with the Kkore. Back to business. Doesn't last long. The Kkore arrive and start the slaughter, taking down admiral Josbek's carrier (Josbek being the guy who put Aeryn in charge). Meanwhile, Scorpius is becoming more and more disillusioned with the Kkore's plans - they basically intend to take everything by force. Back in the battle, an escape is planned. Next to die - Kirlix. Didn't much care. Next to die - Sikozu! She rams two enemy vessels in order to let the Leviathans that the PKs have fled to starburst to safety, saying that she has nothing to live for now her species is dead. The PKs escape and take refuge with a flotilla of migrating Leviathans - they can't stay with them forever and Aeryn's confidence is shaken. Crichton manages to cheer her up and then goes to get reinforcements - a lot of them. The PKs also now have the ability to communicate without the Kkore eavesdropping. Aeryn then sends out a message for everyone willing to fight to come find them. Back with Scorpy, he sees the Kkore executing the Grennij, who have outlived their usefulness, and wonders when his turn is coming. As Rygel remembers prayers that Zhaan used to say about the Kkore, he decides to flee the Kkore with the deposed dominar to find the weapon that will destroy them...
... and during all this, Roiin can't call the people who hired him to kill Deke, and Noranti's third eye opens up prematurely.
Righty-dokey then. Strange one this. It seems basically to be setting things up for a larger storyline, which I guess it is. I'm not going to fault the story except with two things which don't quite gel (but I guess I'll forgive them for the moment) - Zhaan *was* scared at times and she never mentioned the Kkore. Nevertheless, I guess they're new to the comic so to expect them in the series would have been expecting the Farscape crew to have Dune-like levels of prescience. Also, what is the weapon Scorpy's talking about? It's in a part of space the Kkore have avoided. The Eidolons? Maybe. Doubtful. But then, anything else, why didn't Scorpy use it on the Scarrans in the first place?
Other than that, the storyline flows along brilliantly. Chi and Roiin are slowly filling in the pieces, but they need a larger part. Grayza's momentary mutiny actually works in the story and I can see why it was put in - Grayza needed to be humiliated and Aeryn's position solidified. We get rid of some of the unneeded new characters. Scorpius takes action. But by far and away the best part was Sikozu. Her hearing the message from Scorpy has to be one of the best parts of the Farscape comics so far and her death was sad too. She was probably the character I felt had grown the most in the comics and will be missed. Damn, we've got next to none of the original characters left.
The artwork and colouring is... good, in places. Will and Zac have a lot of the faces and people down to a tee (though bizarrely Scorpius gains black eyes from time to time, which I don't particularly mind). The expressions are nigh-on perfect on a lot of the characters - heck, even Grayza, a minor inconvenience in this arc and demanding of little face time, looks exactly as she should. I still have a problem in, I'm not sure, maybe just how bold everything is? Can't quite put my finger on it - I don't like the big black outlines in a lot of things - makes the characters stand out and not look part of their environment. That said, I'm rubbish at drawing, what do I know? There was one scaling problem that irks me, though just in one shot. But the rest was good. As said, the expressions rock. Also, I know I've said this before, but are some of the ships CG? It does look like it to me, especially the Grennij ships.
Covers - the quality is very good. All done by regular Joe Corroney, but unfortunately they're all montages. No epic action shots. If I had to pick a favourite it would have to be 15, with Moya being pursued and Crichton and Aeryn.
So, how do we rate this one? It's good. It's got a solid story. Major stuff happens. It's a decent length. It's got some good artwork. But it's just the first part of a major story. I'm not going to criticise it's length - it is in fact the perfect length and paced well. But it's just building us up. It does it's job well though. I will give it a 3 out of 5. It's not brilliant. It's good.