Comics

Advance Review: ‘Deadly Harvest’ Graphic Novel

Published

12 years ago

July 26, 2012

Historically the amount of danger involved in your line of work has an impact on your pay rate; mining, oil rigs, and king crab fishing is just a few of these hard work load, but high wealth employment opportunities. Erik Hendrix and Michael David Nelsen take this to the next level in “Deadly Harvest” where the aim is mining asteroids and other space debris for a highly combustible ore known as Klip. The tough part? Klip explodes with kinetic energy making it one hell of a deadly harvest. Of course, it isn’t the only hazard involved in this industry, and over the course of this intergalactic thrill ride, many other deadly obstacles present themselves.

WRITTEN BY: Erik Hendrix and Michael David Nelsen
ART BY: Yannis Roumboulias
PUBLISHER: Arcana
RELEASE: July 25th

Being fairly new to comics I have yet to come across any really hard sci-fi comics, besides dabbling in Star Wars comics and the ever epic “Saga”. Sure there are those that take place in alternate universes or far away planets but this is as sci fi as it gets. The team of harvesters, headed by the likeable Captain Cyrus Layne, begin the story with a bang, literally, submersing the reader in the deadly universe these space miners have to deal with. When a new asteroid loaded with enough Klip to send the whole crew into early retirement comes into the story, a new layer is added to this world as Layne decides to use “threads” for fast travel. The concept of “threads” isn’t new to anyone who enjoys scifi, a worm hole like tunnel system that allows for travel over vast distances in short time. This where the story really begins to heat up; not all ships are meant for “threads”. This jump through space allows Layne to get a head start on his grand harvest but where would this story be if it was happily ever after, with the appearance of space pirates this violence free story explodes into conflict.

“Deadly Harvest” is fairly fast paced with a healthy amount of characters but not an over load of information. As the reader I was able to absorb what was going on at a pace that didn’t overwhelm me with content. The story is pretty simple; harvest Klip = get rich. These folks will literally get rich or die trying. With addition of some cool scifi and of course some bad ass space pirates where could the plot go wrong? The end is especially awesome as we find out that this new asteroids has its own alien locals that seem to be hungry for death.

The art has a realistic look but with enough of a make-believe feel to it that works well with science fiction. The idea behind the different mining equipment is particularly interesting, who wouldn’t want a plasma pike or hammer? Colouring compliments the style of art used very well making the suits and weaponry looks even more awesome.

“Deadly Harvest” has a solid story line thus far and the idea behind the book itself gives it a good hook for any readers that enjoy a good scifi twist or even TV shows like “Deadliest Catch”. It’s real easy to get in the characters heads while twists in the plot still leave it unpredictable, especially in the end.

3.5/5 Skulls

Reviewed by – GreenBasterd

Comics

‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics

Published

6 days ago

April 18, 2024

Meagan Navarro

Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.

Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.

In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”

The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”

Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”

“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.

Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”

Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.