Deep Gravity #1

By Mike Richardson, Gabriel Hardman, Corrina Bechko, Fernando Baldo & Nick Filardi

Gabriel Hardman and Corrina Bechko are fantastic creators, and any project that they’re working together should be on everybody’s must buy list ASAP. The current Star Wars Legacy just proved how good they are, so when they combined forces with Mike Richardson and Fernando Baldo for a four issue mini-series, Deep Gravity, it looked like they had a another hit on their hands.

Although Deep Gravity may only be a miniseries, the world that we are introduced to by Richardson, Hardman and Bechko is fascinating. Like Star Wars Legacy, they are in science fiction territory, and the concept is very promising indeed. We find ourselves on the planet of Poseidon, a mere three light years from Earth, in an entirely different scenario. Whilst humans can survive there, anything over three years is a risk. And to make matters worse, the creatures aren’t the friendliest of species, and sometimes it’s hard to tell a plant from an animal.

Mike Richardson writes the story for Deep Gravity, with Hardman and Bechko on the script. It’s a great mix of talent and there’s a real solid foundation here for a must read series in an entirely new world. It’s rare that you get a space opera comic series nowadays that isn’t part of an existing product (for example, the Star Wars comics and any Green Lantern-Space based series), and Deep Gravity fits that bill perfectly. Science Fiction fans will love this, and with the artwork looking superb, then you’re in for a real treat.

Hardman unfortunately only did the cover, but Fernando Baldo’s artwork is actually pretty stunning. It’s eye catching and visually enthralling, and when you combine it with Nick Filardi’s colours, the result looks visually impressive. The issue is really enhanced because of this, and it’s going to be very awesome indeed to see what Baldo can deliver going forward

The characters are introduced to quickly and successfully, with plenty of potential for conflict. There’s no alien main characters yet with humans being the main focus (because so far, the majority of alien life forms are little more than mindless beasts), but we get to meet Engineer Third Class Paxon, who left his highly paid job in a structural design department to join the Deep Space Freighter Vanguard en route to Poseidon. Paxon has his own reasons for joining the ship however, because he wishes to be reunited with the woman that he loves, who abandoned him in favour of space travel.

There’s very little that Deep Gravity puts wrong. It ends on a solid cliffhanger and will certainly have readers coming back for more, and is something that as a result comes highly recommended. If you dug Star Wars Legacy then you’ll want to check this one out, and fans of space opera series will get a kick out of this as well. Richardson, Hardman, Bechko, Baldo and Filardi bring an excellent new series to the table that could end up being one of the best come the year’s end, with great potential for future issues to explore.

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