Review: Chaotic Flux #1

Whenever there is an opportunity to review a new Sci-Fi epic, and get in on the ground floor of a fresh new world, with new characters and ideas, I get excited. Today, I received the opportunity to do just that with the juicy, independent comic Chaotic Flux. Co-Creators Scott Payne (writer) and Brian Balondo (Pencils/Inks), in this first issue of the new series, lay the groundwork for Zithara and a small band of fighters, led by Sorin, as they fight for their very survival against an insatiably hungry, disgusting race of monsters.

I was first stricken by how incredibly nice the artwork is in this comic. Brian Balondo, along with colorists Bryan Magnaye & Angel Ronquillo Magnaye present a solid foundation for this world and characters to be built upon. One of the nice touches is the choice they made to get creative with Zithara“s eyes. Picture hollow eyes, red like burning fire, with three pupils, offset in shape like a grounded electrical outlet. It“s haunting and brilliant at the same time. Filled with action sequences, this comic book is quite a bit of fun to look at.

The majority of this issue takes place in a flashback sequence, introducing us to Zithara. She is an alien, who came to what appears to be Earth, or at least an Earth type planet with humans on it, for a reason we“re yet to know. She seems to have lived in a government laboratory as a youth, with other children from the same alien race. This part of the story felt a bit underdeveloped to me. I would have appreciated a better explanation of why she was on this planet, and how she got there.

Chaotic Flux has several things working well. As mentioned before, the art is worthy of attention. I really wanted to love it more, but the writing did fall flat for me in several areas. First, some of the dialogue is underwhelming. Taglines, such as “You have been judged”“ are borrowed from well know characters. Maybe this is by design. Next, there were some glaring grammatical errors, which really took away from my enjoyment of the story. I“m not the grammar police, and I“m sure someone could easily point out holes in my game, but I did notice there was no editor credited, and I could tell.

I like the potential in Chaotic Flux, I hope the creators get to tell the story for as long as they wish and build the world they want to build. Improvements can be made, but the story certainly shows merit.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Writer:Â Scott Payne
Pencils & Inks:Â Brian Balondo
Co-Creators:Â Scott Payne & Brian Balondo
Colors:Â Bryan Magnaye & Angel Ronquillo Magnaye
Lettering:Â Matt Bowers
Logo:Â Anne Hutchison
Publisher:Â Sharp Edge Comics

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Bryan Spaulding

In his free time, other than reading comic books, Bryan enjoys listening to his ever growing record collection and driving his 27 year old roadster named Mingo.