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Kickstarter Alert: Neon Skies

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

The future is a wonder to behold.  After surviving countless wars and days of almost annihilation, in between which politicians carve up the world for their use and agenda, the human race finally succumbs to the need to be stronger, regardless of the strength taken to get this far.  With this submission comes a reliance  on augmentation to make the human race, stronger, faster.  The downside; everyone is connected to the Cortex.  Still whatever the utilitarian government is in place, there is always rebellion; this time however rebellion also stars the last pure bred human free of the Cortex.

Ciaran Marcantonio, the writer of this cyber punk graphic novel, hits the required beats of the genre.  The writing is of a high standard to engage both the new reader and the bonafide cyber punk fan.  The set up of the plot, whilst familiar, works because the characters involved work.  Regardless of their own familiarity, there is a level of authenticity, which is derived from the dialogue and the situations.  Hope is the “special one” in this particular “saviour of the future” tale.  In order to ghost through society, she has a suit that hides her genes if not her humanity.  Led in part by her mother and her father’s wishes, she stands on the precipice of either being captured by the Cortex drones or leading those outside of the Cortex to freedom, as she tries to live up to the destiny of her name.

For a book likes this, full of grandiose ideas, the art needs to really work.  Here, Kevin Keane delivers a style that has a feel of Mark Bagely in places and Staz Johnson in others.  If these are Keane’s influences, then he mines them well, coupled with own creative page design that allows for a range of effective storytelling, from the nagging mother, the action scenes involving Reinz 2.o and his squad, all the way to the various locations of this our Earth of the future.  There are not many artists that pull double duty as a letterer.  Looking through this book, with the total verbiage on display, it seems that this could be a transition that some artists could make; how better to plan the panels around the text or vice verse?  One of the key selling points of this book is the fantastic coloring of Cristian Sabarre who delivers a master class on digital colors.

When it comes to science fiction, the chosen one who can save or change the world is popular one, having featured in movies from Star Wars to the Matrix and rash of child prodigies.  Given this, Neon Skies may not be the most original of concepts, yet the verve of the creators involved, certainly produce a book that is greater than it trope parts.

For more information on Neon Skies, please check out their Kickstarter page click here

In addition, keep an eye out for a podcast scheduled soon with the creators of Neon Skies over on the Outside the Panels podcast!

Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Written by;  Ciaran Marcantonio
Art by; Kevin Keane
Colors by; Cristian Sabarre
Published by; Rogue Comics Ireland

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
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