Mike@Pilots Chamber
10-30-2010, 01:02 PM
Well, it's review time again of the Compulsions arc, or Ongoing 9-12. And we've got a few game changes here.
First off, our very own KRAD is in charge of scripting again with Will Sliney sticking around for art duties (and Zac Atkinson and Darrin Moore on colour).
Picking up after the events in the previous arc, Compulsions sees us with probably the scarcest of the regular crews - out of the regulars we've got John, Aeryn, Chiana, Sikozu and Deke (and Pilot and Moya of course). We're now joined by Cilla and her crew, most notably captain Zobrek, Prowler pilot Kirlix, Doctor Gribwel and Lieutenant Nybar. Knowing the Grennij are about and causing all sorts of evil, the two crews team up to try to find out what they're up to. Aeryn is still into all the Yemahl religious stuff and finds out that there's going to be a massive change for the PKs at the planet where John and Aeryn first met - also the planet the Grennij are in an arms deal with the PKs. Noranti manages to come out of her cocoon as a much younger version of herself - apparently Traksans do this to stave off the aging process and, with Sikozu out of action (and loving the company of Deke), Chi heads out to find Roiin, madly in love with him. As John, Aeryn, Zobrek and Kirlix head down to the planet to scope out the arms deal they find themselves captured by the ever-looming Grayza, who is wanting to position the PKs as the Grennij's security (not realising the Grennij themselves are security). Banged up in the brig of the command carrier, the crew can't do a thing until Noranti decides to fling herself out of an airlock to try and rescue them. This actually works, surprisingly. However, Aeryn decides to go and mess things up by insisting the escapees stop by the comms room so she can try to get everyone worshipping Yemahl. Needless to say, Aeryn's version of evangelism is short-lived as Grayza stops by and arrests them all again. Meanwhile, Chi's found Roiin and proceeds to screw him senseless, before giving him incorrect codes to find Moya. He's still after Deke and, even though Chi disagrees, she's still staying with him. However! On the command carrier, a very young looking Admiral Josbek frees the prisoners, saying Grayza's going too far. He wants to stage a coup. With a bit of sabotage they blow up the Grennij vessels in the middle of the deal, leaving Grayza with no choice but to stab their commander. Admiral Josbek deems Grayza "irreversibly contaminated" and decides to put Aeryn in charge.
Of Peacekeeperdom (if that's a word - looks a lot like poppadom to me).
And so, with Aeryn now in charge of the poppadoms, Roiin and Chi hear about the Scarran front. Seems some strange ships went into the Scarran Imperium and ever since then nothing's been heard. Hmm... wonder who that could have been...
In any case, we've got here a reasonable story. Nothing special. Apart from the huge game-changer in that Aeryn is now in charge of all the PKs. That's pretty big and I'm not sure I like it. Part of Farscape was always about surviving. The crew aren't like the ones in other shows - they won't always try to help. They bicker. They argue. I'm hoping that we somehow manage to keep that.
I'm not sure I like the other crew either. We've got a crew of PKs and, I'll be honest, Zobrek and Kirlix look exactly the same apart from Kirlix's headband. We're also losing regulars - since the start of the comic we've lost Rygel, Jo'thee, and Sikozu's barely been in this arc. Farscape is undergoing a lot of changes.
It seems Kirlix is wanting to get involved with John so that could be a story that plays out well. And it'll be interesting to see how the Roiin and Chi storyline plays out too, as she's now with him at least for a bit.
The scripting works well and it's great to see Sikozu bonding with Deke - to be honest I didn't expect that and it works really well. Some of her expressions as she's playing with him are excellent.
On the art front, what we've got seems pretty average. There only was one stand-out moment for me, which was inside the comms room in #11. The shading here was excellent. Will Sliney also does seem to have the faces down very well with all sorts of expressions - they are by far the best part of the artwork.
Almost forgot to mention the covers, and unfortunately we're left with a single cover for most of the arc. Still, Joe Correney produces some excellent work. I especially like his market scene on #11 - a wonderful cover.
Overall - I don't know what to say. Aeryn becoming leader of the PKs is leaving a sour taste in my mouth but, to judge the arc alone, there are several ups and downs. The storyline itself is pretty average, though the fact that Noranti rescues them and they botch up the escape is amusing. Chi and Roiin joining up should lead to lots of good story though, especially the foreshadowing of Scorpy's antics with the Kkore. So I'll give this a 3 out of 5. It's decent, but definitely not one of the best.
First off, our very own KRAD is in charge of scripting again with Will Sliney sticking around for art duties (and Zac Atkinson and Darrin Moore on colour).
Picking up after the events in the previous arc, Compulsions sees us with probably the scarcest of the regular crews - out of the regulars we've got John, Aeryn, Chiana, Sikozu and Deke (and Pilot and Moya of course). We're now joined by Cilla and her crew, most notably captain Zobrek, Prowler pilot Kirlix, Doctor Gribwel and Lieutenant Nybar. Knowing the Grennij are about and causing all sorts of evil, the two crews team up to try to find out what they're up to. Aeryn is still into all the Yemahl religious stuff and finds out that there's going to be a massive change for the PKs at the planet where John and Aeryn first met - also the planet the Grennij are in an arms deal with the PKs. Noranti manages to come out of her cocoon as a much younger version of herself - apparently Traksans do this to stave off the aging process and, with Sikozu out of action (and loving the company of Deke), Chi heads out to find Roiin, madly in love with him. As John, Aeryn, Zobrek and Kirlix head down to the planet to scope out the arms deal they find themselves captured by the ever-looming Grayza, who is wanting to position the PKs as the Grennij's security (not realising the Grennij themselves are security). Banged up in the brig of the command carrier, the crew can't do a thing until Noranti decides to fling herself out of an airlock to try and rescue them. This actually works, surprisingly. However, Aeryn decides to go and mess things up by insisting the escapees stop by the comms room so she can try to get everyone worshipping Yemahl. Needless to say, Aeryn's version of evangelism is short-lived as Grayza stops by and arrests them all again. Meanwhile, Chi's found Roiin and proceeds to screw him senseless, before giving him incorrect codes to find Moya. He's still after Deke and, even though Chi disagrees, she's still staying with him. However! On the command carrier, a very young looking Admiral Josbek frees the prisoners, saying Grayza's going too far. He wants to stage a coup. With a bit of sabotage they blow up the Grennij vessels in the middle of the deal, leaving Grayza with no choice but to stab their commander. Admiral Josbek deems Grayza "irreversibly contaminated" and decides to put Aeryn in charge.
Of Peacekeeperdom (if that's a word - looks a lot like poppadom to me).
And so, with Aeryn now in charge of the poppadoms, Roiin and Chi hear about the Scarran front. Seems some strange ships went into the Scarran Imperium and ever since then nothing's been heard. Hmm... wonder who that could have been...
In any case, we've got here a reasonable story. Nothing special. Apart from the huge game-changer in that Aeryn is now in charge of all the PKs. That's pretty big and I'm not sure I like it. Part of Farscape was always about surviving. The crew aren't like the ones in other shows - they won't always try to help. They bicker. They argue. I'm hoping that we somehow manage to keep that.
I'm not sure I like the other crew either. We've got a crew of PKs and, I'll be honest, Zobrek and Kirlix look exactly the same apart from Kirlix's headband. We're also losing regulars - since the start of the comic we've lost Rygel, Jo'thee, and Sikozu's barely been in this arc. Farscape is undergoing a lot of changes.
It seems Kirlix is wanting to get involved with John so that could be a story that plays out well. And it'll be interesting to see how the Roiin and Chi storyline plays out too, as she's now with him at least for a bit.
The scripting works well and it's great to see Sikozu bonding with Deke - to be honest I didn't expect that and it works really well. Some of her expressions as she's playing with him are excellent.
On the art front, what we've got seems pretty average. There only was one stand-out moment for me, which was inside the comms room in #11. The shading here was excellent. Will Sliney also does seem to have the faces down very well with all sorts of expressions - they are by far the best part of the artwork.
Almost forgot to mention the covers, and unfortunately we're left with a single cover for most of the arc. Still, Joe Correney produces some excellent work. I especially like his market scene on #11 - a wonderful cover.
Overall - I don't know what to say. Aeryn becoming leader of the PKs is leaving a sour taste in my mouth but, to judge the arc alone, there are several ups and downs. The storyline itself is pretty average, though the fact that Noranti rescues them and they botch up the escape is amusing. Chi and Roiin joining up should lead to lots of good story though, especially the foreshadowing of Scorpy's antics with the Kkore. So I'll give this a 3 out of 5. It's decent, but definitely not one of the best.