The major comic companies get enough reviews and press, it’s time for the creator-owned and indie series to get some love and judgment. Indie review takes up-and-coming indie and creator-owned series and puts them through the review process so you can confidently support the best of the small press and passion driven projects in the comic industry.

 

The Info Bit

Title: Higher Earth #1

Genre/s: Sci-Fi/Adventure

Writer: Sam Humphries (Our Love Is Real, Ultimates)

Art: Francesco Biagini (Elric, Dead Run)

Colorist: Andrew Crossley (G.I. Joe, Transformers: Heart of Darkness)

Letterer: Ed Dukeshire (Incorruptible, Fanboys Vs Zombies)

Publisher: Boom Studios

Number of Issues: 1 (on-going)

Page Count: 22

Price: $1.00

 

The Review Bit

Boom Studios brings us yet another $1 #1 comic, once more by Sam Humphries. Some of you might remember Sam Humphries other $1 #1 Boom Studios comic from last month, Fanboys Vs Zombies. We reviewed that opening issue last month and it took quite the beating. Thankfully Higher Earth is made of much better stuff.

Higher Earth is a classic Sci-Fi adventure involving parallel Earths and sword play. Anytime you can get a Sci-Fi setting where swords are still a commonly used weapon, instead of just hand guns and lasers, you know you’re off to a good start. However, trying to explain what the series is actually about at this point is a little difficult. Humphries throws us right into this new universe and leaves us to hit the ground running, much as was done with the main character of the series. The main character of Higher Earth, who is as of yet unnamed in the comic (but we know is called Rex), first appears when he falls through an inter-dimensional portal designed to drop garbage on to a lesser cared about version of Earth. He is accompanied by his pet crow (or raven?) as he begins to explore this trash heap of an Earth that is filled with people just trying to survive by scavenging what they can on the planet. Rex is scavenging for something quite different, however, as he searches out a young girl named Heidi. Heidi has the visual appearance of a cross between Marvel’s Hope and Star War’s Mara Jade, a young redheaded warrior in post apocalyptic Sci-Fi garb. Heidi’s first appearance is rather strong, as she crawls out of a giant mechanical bear and childishly takes a small dinosaur toy away from other garbage planet scavengers.

The opening issue very much holds the “come with me if you want to live” cliché of a strong soldier figure ruining the dull life of an otherwise innocent appearing character by dragging her into a world of violence and adventure. Rex drags Heidi away to explain to her and the audience why she is important and describe the concept of parallel Earths. However, before any of us can really get a hang on things an assassin comes for Rex’s head. We get to see some sword fighting action, but it seems that throughout the book the panels were intended for slightly gorier scenes than the art portrays. The opening issue of Higher Earth concludes when Rex convinces young Heidi to come with him, on the run from some unknown group, and become illegal trespassers on a new Earth. Where this series is truly going, who is chasing them, or why Heidi is so special will hopefully be revealed in future issues, but just not in this one.

Sam Humphries dialogue throughout Higher Earth #1 feels a little cliché, like something from a cancelled SyFy TV series, but is never the less far better and fitting to the series than we saw in Fanboys Vs Zombies. The concept and content also read very interesting, with enough of a hook to drag me back for future issues. However, the star of this issue is the art. While Biagini is not drawing the most stunning of figures or backgrounds, his character look decent. Yet it is his use of sequential art and incredible paneling that just makes me adore this comic. Biagini is obviously not a fan of the bland, grid designed paneling system as his panels are often shaped uniquely to fit the content and drive your focus on the page. He also avoids boring gutters by using items, like Rex’s sword, or patterns, like lines of garbage and mechanical parts, to fill or replace the gutters between panels. Adding to the Biagini love is some really cool sword fighting scenes that just pop. The only complaints I can give is that Biagini’s  characters could be sex up a little and fight scenes a little more violent (there is a point in the comic where a man’s torso and arms are cut off, yet it feels almost innocent, as if it was a mannequin being taken apart). Yet over all this is not bad. The coloring, on the other hand, has some varying extremes. There are moments when Andrew Crossley amazes me with his coloring, especially on scenes depicting space, sunsets, or dimensional portals. However, he seems to lose his sense of color in low light scenarios, making the art look very subpar and characters looking almost inhuman in appearance. Hopefully in future issues the characters will stay in well lit locations, allowing Crossley to stick with softer colors.

 

 

The Rating Bit

In the end this was a fun entry into a new universe, but nothing extraordinarily spectacular. Humphries definitely redeems himself from the travesty of Fanboys Vs Zombies, but this still doesn’t have the feel that made Our Love Is Real so brilliant. While the art has moments of brilliance, it also has mediocre moments that even things out. Overall Higher Earth #1 earns a 6 out of 10, but things could easily get better as the series progresses.