Indie Review: Eugenus #4: The Martian Concern Part 1

With all the hoopla of “I hate it” or “I love it” regarding Stars Wars: Rise of Skywalker (I am in camp love it, just in case you were wondering), it is easy to forget that science fiction did actually exist before that galaxy far far away ever appeared on movie screens.Â Eugenus is a bit of a throw back to everything that is not Star Wars or even Star Trek.

This is the fourth issue of Eugenus but as it’s the start of a new arc, it is a great jumping on point.Â Earth is working on a faster than light starship, the Saturn II.Â However, the Martians are concerned that further exploration of the universe could leave the Sol system open to attack.Â If they had their way, peaceful exploration can only happen if you are armed to the teeth.Â Must be that old of “we come in peace; shoot to kill” adage in full play.Â When something happens to Saturn II, the greatest Paragon, Eugenus, is dispatched to find out what happened.

The book is the creation Victor Ramom Mojica who supplies both the story and the art.Â As always, looking a the writing first; there are a blend of influences on show.Â Certainly the obvious Star Trek “positivity of human spirit” is there.Â Also on show are some Babylon 5 overtures; this is a universe with a political background that has an impact on proceedings.Â Whilst all that is good and relevantÂ there are other influences in play.Â I am talking about the great sci-fi movies from the 50’s.Â Things like This Island Earth and The Day the Earth Stood Still.Â Influences aren’t a bad thing as long as you take them in a new direction, which Mojica does for the most part.Â With the plot elements being so diverse, there is a lot of exposition to get through, which does affect the pace of the book.Â Maybe a fact page in future, to set the scene somewhat, maybe something akin to the House of X texts which add further clarity to the overall story.Â Still, there is enough going on, with the various elements to keep the reader interested.Â I do think that an editor would help iron out some of the dialogue problems and help pick up the odd spelling error.

The art could be seen as a tad basic in place, a charge that is not helped by the androids looking the same, though this is a staple of sci-fi movies throughout the ages for the most part.Â Faces of the humans could also be worked on.Â These elements could be broken up with different camera angles to help drive the story through, which is key when the book has a heavy dialogue back bone.Â The art reminds me of early 2000 A.D. stuff, which I intend as a compliment.Â The figure is also on point for the majority of the book,with only the slightest perspective problems popping up now and again.Â The color scheme is grey-scale and to be honest, after the first couple of pages, you kind of don’t notice; you just go along with it, which again is a credit to Mojica.

The book is an interesting, long winded at times read, that captures some of the very best elements of a blend of sci-fi that doesn’t rely on the Force.Â It will be interesting to see how this series plays out.

Writing – 3 Stars
Art 3- Stars

Overall – 3 Stars

Created, Written and Art by; Victor Ramon Mojica
Published by; Eugenus Studios

Eugenus #4 is available from the following following thisÂ link and of course from www.eugenus.com

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network