Crowd Funded Reviews: Stardust

STORY

So I’m going to be doing something new from time to time here. I’ve spoken with our beloved leader Al and will be including both small press indies to review as well as crowd funded books as I get them. There’s a lot of good and bad to mediocre stuff out there so I’ll do my best to inform you on these comics as I go along.

Stardust is a throwback to yesteryear, back to the days when the sci-fi and horror genre where plentiful on stands in black and white rags in magazine format primarily. It harkens back to titles like Eerie or Tales from the Crypt and maybe I’m showing my age but I really enjoyed this somewhat anthology informed style in this book. The main story of this book deals with an alien’s quest for survival and revenge after his ship crashed in the middle of a city. The terrified humans react as one would expect and the sole surviving creature flees into the woods beyond the city in order to stay alive. In a tragic take akin to Frankenstein it plots a hopeless revenge while learning about humanity as the years of isolation embitter it. When the alien finally strikes it’s a savage and merciless act but the years alone drive it to relate to one of its victims. I can’t go deeper than this because the story is worth reading for yourself. It’s easy to empathize with both the humans and the alien and the ending is incredibly emotional and worthy of an episode of Te Twilight Zone.

Skorth is a pretty atypical sort of story of human exploration onto an alien world with bad results. In this story the settlement on a planet for which this take is named. What one presumes had originally been an idyllic location for a potential human colony instead turns out to be devastatingly to humans.

Coldness is the last of the three stories within and is a mere three pages. Its more of a vignette really than a story but it does manage to tell a sad tale in such a brief manner. In a world haunted by the living dead things are cold indeed.

ART

Langley’s art is a perfect match for this sort of story and I understand that he and Nasser are teaming up for another horror outing. This genre fits him well. Firstly the cover is pure black and white, unheard of and yet it fits the project so very well and really catches the eye. The interiors are is good, Langely is no legend (ala Bernie Wrightson) but he is a deft storyteller and some of his layouts are just brilliantly executed. His art reminds me of how much I used to appreciate black and white comics, especially in out glossy, digitally colored world. Lots of gorgeous spotting blacks and crosshatching to entertain the eye without ever over rendering the subject on the page. Keep an eye on this guy.

THE BOOK

The comic itself is printed on nice heavyweight paper and the cover is a solid sheet of cardstock. There is no issue with ink coming off on my fingers and it came delivered with the author’s signature. It feels like a quality product, like a premium format comic. I’m quite satisfied

FINAL THOUGHTS

This is a solid first effort from a neophyte creator who understands the genre he wants to play in. While the shorter stories in the book follow expected tropes it Stardust that hits the home run with its surprisingly emotional and thought-provoking story.

It is my understanding that if you missed this book this book the first time around that it is being offered as a perk with Nasser’s current campaign on Indiegogo Trixie Cain: Blood Reaper. 4.5 out of 5!

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

REVIEW: STARDUST ONE SHOT

Publisher: Secret Comics
Writer: Nasser Rabadi
Art: Shawn Langley
Letters/Designer: Joey Turnage