David Hine is a very underrated writer in my opinion. I can’t really pinpoint what his style of writing is but it always gels with me whenever I pick up an issue. His short run on Detective Comics was very fun but largely ignored. (To his defense, when you come after Rucka/Williams III and before Snyder/Jock ANYONE would be ignored.) And a one time issue on Batman and Robin was right in his wheelhouse (with unfortunate art by the dreaded Greg Tocchini). So when Image gives him a mini-series you know I will stay glued to whatever he has in mind.

The result? A very slow opening but something that has a lot of potential. Hine is giving us a sci-fi tale that is part murder mystery and part Avatar rip off. I don’t wanna make it sound like I’m ripping him on that comparison but it does feel a bit like Avatar. Humans on an alien planet, which they don’t really understand the ecology, and there may be natives involve? Apart from that slight disappointment there is a lot to like here. Sure it reads a bit slow but Hine introduces all of the characters very well and I am intrigue on following them. Even with an Avatar feel to the planet, his way of introducing the wildlife was also very fun to read and I hope we see more of it next month.

Another reason you should check this mini out if the art by Doug Braithwaite. If you remember he did several issue of Journey Into Mystery and his painted style fits right in this alien landscape. (He also did yet another overlooked arc by David Hine on ‘Brave and the Bold’. It involves Green Arrow and Phantom Strange so I’d say search for it if you can.) When we see the wildlife of this planet it is very beautiful and he also handles the weather effects perfectly. Some great use of storms and lighting in this particular issue. Sometimes his character models can look a bit wonky but for the most part you can easily follow who is who. It is probably a good thing most of these guys/gals are gonna wear Halo-like armor for the time being.

This was a pretty good first issue for what I’ll hope will be a solid story. Yeah it has an Avatar flavor to it but I can forgive David Hine because I’m sure he is gonna do more then the usual ‘humans on an foreign planet’ story line. If anything Doug Braithwaite shows why he is also a pretty underrated artist. Once you see his painted style you’ll wanna keep turning the pages to see what else he can do with a pretty good script. Once again Image has taken my money on a pretty solid mini and they’ll get more next month I’m sure.