Mike@Pilots Chamber
10-24-2009, 03:48 AM
So Gone and Back has finally been released in its entirety. The "third" Farscape series of the continuation (not counting D'Argo's Lament, set during season 3) sees a big difference in plot, casting Crichton as the only familiar character on an adventure of his own, with skewed versions of everyone else around him.
Following the events of Strange Detractors, Sikozu's back with the crew and they're visiting Rygel to determine why Deke seems to be causing all sorts of funky time and space dren. Normalcy is short-lived however when Deke casts Crichton into an unrealized reality. Here, Zhaan and D'Argo are alive, there's a new guy called Coron, Aeryn never came to Moya, Crais was killed by Teeg, Rygel's got his throne and Scorpy's happy serving him. Nope, no Jo'thee, Sikozu or Noranti. And that's before we mention two unexpected additions - Princess Katralla and her daughter with Crichton, the munchkin Katrana. Crichton decides that he cannot abide with Aeryn still being a PK and decides to hire help to break into the command carrier for a chat - that help being... dun-dun-dun... red-eyes! Yep, with the help of Roiin the red-eyed bounty hunter with a charming haircut, Crichton manages to talk to Aeryn just as he's pulled back, and discovers that Deke's mutation is not caused by human/sebacean genes, but isolated to Aeryn herself...
So, blurb over. I'll start with the story, something which I particularly enjoyed. This is not just "Farscape, but different". The unrealized reality is actually believable. Backstory is provided as to how events have unravelled and it all feels very genuine, rather than a "hey, wouldn't it be cool if..." scenario. It's actually pretty deep, with PK factions going rogue, Grayza using Aeryn as a breeding project (Aeryn's look reminded me of Xhalax too - a nice touch) and Crichton still being infamous. Roiin being included was, to be honest, expected, but I didn't expect him to have a backstory as well. I also didn't expect him to be a regular-looking guy (though not sebacean, unless they have two hearts - Time Lord anyone?). I expected some evil brooding monster. However, this is another reality - maybe in the regular one he is.
Also of note is that I thought, as with Strange Detractors, that the story would wrap itself up rather abruptly at the end. In this case it doesn't. It is in fact the perfect length, with the final issue actually still having plenty of stuff going on, as opposed to Strange Detractors.
Artwork, by Tommy Patterson, carries on the good work from the final issue of The Beginning Of The End Of The Beginning. On some parts with several people or far-away stuff there's not a great amount of detail, but close-up scenes seem pretty damn good. There are some great scenes, in particular the stuff we see of Hyneria (again, it seems Tommy Patterson likes drawing this) and the bar scene in issue 3.
Overall, I have nothing really to complain about. The only gripe I do have is that Crichton wants to help THIS Aeryn. Maybe I'm just more practical than Crichton but I'd put all my resources into getting back to the right Aeryn rather than trying to "help" another. Other than that, this is pretty damn good. Decent artwork, very good story. Also, this is the only one so far that I've only got one cover of each comic - 1B (Crichton, Zhaan, D'Argo, Aeryn, Deke), 2A (Crichton with Prowlers), 3B (Crichton against space), and 4B (Crichton and Roiin). Though on two occasions (2 and 4) I've been able to get another cover, I've just liked the covers I got enough. That and money's tight.
Following the events of Strange Detractors, Sikozu's back with the crew and they're visiting Rygel to determine why Deke seems to be causing all sorts of funky time and space dren. Normalcy is short-lived however when Deke casts Crichton into an unrealized reality. Here, Zhaan and D'Argo are alive, there's a new guy called Coron, Aeryn never came to Moya, Crais was killed by Teeg, Rygel's got his throne and Scorpy's happy serving him. Nope, no Jo'thee, Sikozu or Noranti. And that's before we mention two unexpected additions - Princess Katralla and her daughter with Crichton, the munchkin Katrana. Crichton decides that he cannot abide with Aeryn still being a PK and decides to hire help to break into the command carrier for a chat - that help being... dun-dun-dun... red-eyes! Yep, with the help of Roiin the red-eyed bounty hunter with a charming haircut, Crichton manages to talk to Aeryn just as he's pulled back, and discovers that Deke's mutation is not caused by human/sebacean genes, but isolated to Aeryn herself...
So, blurb over. I'll start with the story, something which I particularly enjoyed. This is not just "Farscape, but different". The unrealized reality is actually believable. Backstory is provided as to how events have unravelled and it all feels very genuine, rather than a "hey, wouldn't it be cool if..." scenario. It's actually pretty deep, with PK factions going rogue, Grayza using Aeryn as a breeding project (Aeryn's look reminded me of Xhalax too - a nice touch) and Crichton still being infamous. Roiin being included was, to be honest, expected, but I didn't expect him to have a backstory as well. I also didn't expect him to be a regular-looking guy (though not sebacean, unless they have two hearts - Time Lord anyone?). I expected some evil brooding monster. However, this is another reality - maybe in the regular one he is.
Also of note is that I thought, as with Strange Detractors, that the story would wrap itself up rather abruptly at the end. In this case it doesn't. It is in fact the perfect length, with the final issue actually still having plenty of stuff going on, as opposed to Strange Detractors.
Artwork, by Tommy Patterson, carries on the good work from the final issue of The Beginning Of The End Of The Beginning. On some parts with several people or far-away stuff there's not a great amount of detail, but close-up scenes seem pretty damn good. There are some great scenes, in particular the stuff we see of Hyneria (again, it seems Tommy Patterson likes drawing this) and the bar scene in issue 3.
Overall, I have nothing really to complain about. The only gripe I do have is that Crichton wants to help THIS Aeryn. Maybe I'm just more practical than Crichton but I'd put all my resources into getting back to the right Aeryn rather than trying to "help" another. Other than that, this is pretty damn good. Decent artwork, very good story. Also, this is the only one so far that I've only got one cover of each comic - 1B (Crichton, Zhaan, D'Argo, Aeryn, Deke), 2A (Crichton with Prowlers), 3B (Crichton against space), and 4B (Crichton and Roiin). Though on two occasions (2 and 4) I've been able to get another cover, I've just liked the covers I got enough. That and money's tight.