Mike@Pilots Chamber
10-01-2011, 09:37 AM
Before the current Farscape comics come to an end, I thought I'd do a review to take you all back... back before Sikozu died, before Deke was even a glint in his daddy's eye and even before Harvey, to two comics that were brought out long, long ago (2000 or 2001 I think), before the cancellation and these very forums - War Torn, by Wildstorm.
I think Wildstorm were testing the waters for a Farscape comic as they released two issues of War Torn. Unfortunately, at least at the time, it doesn't seem like it worked out as, whilst the comics were very good, again, only the two issues were published.
There are actually two stories in these comics - War Torn being the main one (taking up about 80% of each comic) and Chiana's little story, The Fourth Horseman. The second issue also has a few sketches.
In any case, the War Torn story seems to take place during, I'd say, season 2. John's here, as well as Aeryn, D'Argo, Zhaan, Rygel, Chi and Pilot. So far no idea about Harvey and I think there's only a brief mention of Scorpy, though he himself doesn't actually turn up. In a stand-alone episode (the story itself is about the length of an episode), Moya is in need of a part to help regulate heat. There are three planets in the vicinity - the verdant paradise Kylei, the grimy and industrial Garangee, and the sacred and uninhabited Tivira. John, Zhaan and Chi head off to Kylei to try to find the parts whilst Aeryn, D'Argo and Rygel head to Garangee to do the same. Inevitably the various teams fall foul of local politics, becoming unwitting pawns in a war between the two worlds over rights to Tivira and the holy voice commanding them to go there. Each of the two teams comes to sympathise with their hosts but it soon turns out a conspiracy is afoot - as the two sides are at the dawn of peace terrorists attack the treaty signing and prolong the war. Managing to get the best intel - and get herself kidnapped in the process - Chi needs saving and the Moya crew decide to go to Tivira themselves to find out what all the hoo-ha is about. Instead of finding "God" they find a crashed alien vessel with a slightly messed-up distress signal - what both the Kyleians and Garangee thought was "God" was actually it's garbled answer phone (doesn't it just suck when that happens?) - though there is the possibility of star charts home! Discovering the Moyans have invaded their sacred grounds, both the Kyleians and Garangee respond in force, and the crew manage to escape (though the star charts presumably get blown up).
In The Fourth Horseman, a Chi-only story, Chi runs into some Nebari rebels whilst on "shore leave" away from Moya. She quickly reacquaints herself with their leader, an old childhood friend of her brother's, and finds that they're infected with the contagion. Though a spy tries to head them in the right direction, the rebels subdue Chi and steal a ship, ramming it into the local Nebari government station, killing themselves and the contagion they carry.
The writing in both of these stories in nigh-on spot on. I don't think it's "quite" as good as the current Farscape comics have been at their best, but it's certainly good. The characters speak as they should, and you can definitely head their voices. The stories themselves are perfectly balanced - the main story, War Torn, will take a good 30-45 minutes to read and has enough going on (including minor side stories) without being rushed. The Fourth Horseman will take 5-10 minutes and still fits a fair bit in, but is suitable as a one-shot.
The art is fantastic - definitely up there with the best of the current Farscape comics (Scorpius issues, D'Argo issues). There are some excellent vistas, a great hand-drawn look and the characters popping out of their panels to add some dynamic. In The Fourth Horseman however, it's not quite the same - there is less shading and colours, but then these ARE the Nebari - they're not exactly known for being very colourful.
However, the covers are awful. I think photos (and photo montages) are cheating.
Overall, this comic is a good little bit of extra Farscape. It's a stand-alone story, a "filler" episode if you will, but it's a good one. A good amount happens and the story is interesting. I do think that it's only downfall however is that it IS a filler episode, completely unrelated to the main Farscape plot. Seeing some PKs and Scorpy would've been cool, but as is it'd still class as a good episode of Farscape on it's own.
I think Wildstorm were testing the waters for a Farscape comic as they released two issues of War Torn. Unfortunately, at least at the time, it doesn't seem like it worked out as, whilst the comics were very good, again, only the two issues were published.
There are actually two stories in these comics - War Torn being the main one (taking up about 80% of each comic) and Chiana's little story, The Fourth Horseman. The second issue also has a few sketches.
In any case, the War Torn story seems to take place during, I'd say, season 2. John's here, as well as Aeryn, D'Argo, Zhaan, Rygel, Chi and Pilot. So far no idea about Harvey and I think there's only a brief mention of Scorpy, though he himself doesn't actually turn up. In a stand-alone episode (the story itself is about the length of an episode), Moya is in need of a part to help regulate heat. There are three planets in the vicinity - the verdant paradise Kylei, the grimy and industrial Garangee, and the sacred and uninhabited Tivira. John, Zhaan and Chi head off to Kylei to try to find the parts whilst Aeryn, D'Argo and Rygel head to Garangee to do the same. Inevitably the various teams fall foul of local politics, becoming unwitting pawns in a war between the two worlds over rights to Tivira and the holy voice commanding them to go there. Each of the two teams comes to sympathise with their hosts but it soon turns out a conspiracy is afoot - as the two sides are at the dawn of peace terrorists attack the treaty signing and prolong the war. Managing to get the best intel - and get herself kidnapped in the process - Chi needs saving and the Moya crew decide to go to Tivira themselves to find out what all the hoo-ha is about. Instead of finding "God" they find a crashed alien vessel with a slightly messed-up distress signal - what both the Kyleians and Garangee thought was "God" was actually it's garbled answer phone (doesn't it just suck when that happens?) - though there is the possibility of star charts home! Discovering the Moyans have invaded their sacred grounds, both the Kyleians and Garangee respond in force, and the crew manage to escape (though the star charts presumably get blown up).
In The Fourth Horseman, a Chi-only story, Chi runs into some Nebari rebels whilst on "shore leave" away from Moya. She quickly reacquaints herself with their leader, an old childhood friend of her brother's, and finds that they're infected with the contagion. Though a spy tries to head them in the right direction, the rebels subdue Chi and steal a ship, ramming it into the local Nebari government station, killing themselves and the contagion they carry.
The writing in both of these stories in nigh-on spot on. I don't think it's "quite" as good as the current Farscape comics have been at their best, but it's certainly good. The characters speak as they should, and you can definitely head their voices. The stories themselves are perfectly balanced - the main story, War Torn, will take a good 30-45 minutes to read and has enough going on (including minor side stories) without being rushed. The Fourth Horseman will take 5-10 minutes and still fits a fair bit in, but is suitable as a one-shot.
The art is fantastic - definitely up there with the best of the current Farscape comics (Scorpius issues, D'Argo issues). There are some excellent vistas, a great hand-drawn look and the characters popping out of their panels to add some dynamic. In The Fourth Horseman however, it's not quite the same - there is less shading and colours, but then these ARE the Nebari - they're not exactly known for being very colourful.
However, the covers are awful. I think photos (and photo montages) are cheating.
Overall, this comic is a good little bit of extra Farscape. It's a stand-alone story, a "filler" episode if you will, but it's a good one. A good amount happens and the story is interesting. I do think that it's only downfall however is that it IS a filler episode, completely unrelated to the main Farscape plot. Seeing some PKs and Scorpy would've been cool, but as is it'd still class as a good episode of Farscape on it's own.