As a Brian Wood fan, I have been looking forward to this title since it was announced. If you’re a Wood fan too, specifically of Northlanders and DMZ, you should definitely check out this book. In his past work, he has shown readers that he can populate a high-concept world with compelling, multi-dimensional characters.

This first issue does a good job of table-setting, in that (in flashbacks) we get a sketch of the environmental disasters that have occurred, which have resulted in the characters’ present situation. We don’t learn too much backstory about the four characters we meet, but Wood gives us a good portrait of their immediate relationships, and how they interact with each other in a crisis situation. (FYI: There were some character backstories presented in several issues of Dark Horse Presents this year.

I like adventure stories, and based off of Woods’ past work, I’m looking forward to seeing where he goes with this premise, and these characters.

Kristian Donaldson’s art is gorgeous. He uses a hyper-technical style to render buildings, ships, and machinery, but it’s tempered with painterly touches in his depiction of water, smoke, clouds, and fire.

Dave Stewart colors the book with a muted palette, using bright color sparingly, except in one scene where splashes of red bring an immediacy to the action with great effect.

The whole book is designed beautifully, and cohesively. Ads are limited to the back of the book, so they won’t interrupt the narrative of the story. There are some fun extras included after the story that won’t appear in collected editions, as an incentive to buy single-issues. That was cool.

Fun high-concept, awesome art, good storytelling. Can’t wait for issue #2.