Relay #1 Review

Monolithic

Written by: Zac Thompson
Art by: Andy Clarke
Colored by: Dan Brown
Story by: Zac Thompson, Eric Bromberg, Donny Cates
Publisher: Aftershock
Publication Date: 11 July 2018


Aftershock as a publisher seems to have a very high threshold for quality control and originality. Each title they bring out always tries to take a novel approach to things. This title comes packed with potential and had already been teased with an issue 0 on Free Comic Book Day. Let's see how issue 1 proper was.

Well, this was pretty great, but also very very dense. So not a light read but a really heavy duty world that begs to be explored. The concept behind the new series is that every newly discovered planet in this bright future is unified culturally through a monolithic structure known as the Galactic Relay. That towering monument is meant to inspire conformity of ideas, technology, and progress. Many resent the foreign structure, and there is a seemingly underground cult of religious worship around the mysterious founding father, Hank Donaldson. The story that Thompson weaves against this highly conceptual background is really lived in and authentic as workers and security go about their normal business.

The looming presence of the Relay monument and the general encroachment and draw of the structure reminds the reader's mind to similar entities that dominate the landscape in Blade Runner and it is no coincidence that many comparisons in the previews for this book make reference to Philip K Dick. The sources aren't all Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep though, and there is one scene which pays deep homage to the original Total Recall. Just as the storytelling is dense, the art from Clarke and Brown is extraordinarily detailed. There is no rush-job, quick fix, 3D Modeling and bland generic backgrounds in this book, detailed cityscapes and street scenes are presented that will reward a long gaze at the page.


Bits and Pieces

This opening issue proper really set the scene very well for the forthcoming series and I think it got the balance right between stacking up the detail, without losing the reader in complexity. With an intriguing story and detailed intricate art, this is well worth diving into. Provides a great return for the investment.

8.9/10