I wasn’t really sure what to expect with this new series by Warren Ellis, but I decided to give it a shot. After reading through it a second time, I still couldn’t get enough of the unique and interesting world that Ellis is creating here.

The interior is beautiful. It looks mostly realistic, although the setting is a 1950s Earth where space travel is possible in what looks like steam propelled space ships, so there is a certain fantastic quality to it. This quality carries over to the characters, where the faces have unique and characterful shapes. The coloring is great, and it really sets up the atmosphere of the book.

The tone that Ellis sets up is a blend of realism and fantasy. There is definitely some serious subject matter and (beautiful) graphic violence. At the same time, there are propeller powere space ships and plasma ray guns. There’s a constipated old man. There’s gratuitous foul language, but it never feels overused or phony. Rather, it colors this world.

I really like the broad range of characters. Ellis introduces some that
do not have a place in the story yet, but it’s pretty clear they will
play some role later on. The only qualm I have about this issue (and the reason for the 4/5 for story) is that it really is just an introduction. We meet the characters and the world they inhabit. The plot is set up, and this series looks ready to kick things into high gear with issue 2. I can’t wait to follow this series.