CAPTAIN VICTORY AND THE GALACTIC RANGERS

“The universe continues to be an odd and harmful beast!”

Within the midst of an interstellar conflict, the Dreadnought Tiger is brutally attacked and their captain is killed. Earlier than his loss of life, although, their cloning fail-safes, themselves broken within the assault, jettison two of his clones. A determined seek for their captain ensues throughout time and house on this updating of Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers by Joe Casey, Nathan Fox, Brad Simpson, and Simon Bowland with extra artwork by Jim Rugg, Ulises Farinas, Michael Fiffe, Jim Mahfood, Farel Dalrymple, Benjamin Marra, Connor Willumsen, Nick Dragotta, Dan McDaid, Tradd Moore, and Grant Morrison.

Jack Kirby‘s Captain Victory is taken into account by some to be a misplaced basic. It was printed within the early ’80s by Pacific Comics and sadly by no means been totally reprinted (an Picture Comics reprint was scheduled however by no means materialized). I haven’t learn the total run myself both, solely having the reprint version of the primary difficulty from TwoMorrows and some non-consecutive points I discovered in again difficulty bins. What I’ve learn, although, was enjoyable. It’s full on Kirby cosmic motion, that to me actually appears like a industrial toy animated collection. You don’t have to know any of that to take pleasure in this new interpretation.

The collection is attention-grabbing in the way it performs out and is structured general. It will get segmented over three fundamental settings, Captain Victory’s ship, after which two completely different places the place his clones crash; late ’70s Earth and a sort of trash heap world. It then will get segmented even additional by flashbacks and thoughts quests and different bizarre issues that create a sort of mosaic by which the reader can piece collectively the bigger image of what’s occurring. In a way, it’s an strategy much like what Kirby was doing together with his numerous Fourth World titles and it’s good to see it in microcosm. I really feel like Casey, Fox, and co. actually excel at this type of storytelling. As a fan of Godland, I additionally actually take pleasure in when Casey goes cosmic.

Nathan Fox has a really distinctive type. It’s usually sort of tough and scratchy, with exaggerated character designs and attention-grabbing expertise. He’s not essentially somebody I’d consider to do sci-fi—since to me his type extra matches gritty crime drama or the ’70s exploitation/martial arts movie really feel of the Earth phase—however each time he does (each right here and in The Weatherman) it’s actually rattling good. I feel a part of it’s that his sense of motion framing and pacing is phenomenal.

One of many issues I discover most enjoyable about this collection is the way it incorporates visitor artists. From the jam session of pages within the last chapter to the flashbacks and facet missions within the previous elements, it’s pleasant to see a plethora of differing kinds, many influenced by Kirby, contribute to the general story.

Bringing cohesion to the completely different artists is Brad Simpson’s colors. There’s an general color palette that I’d contemplate Kirby major colors by the use of ’80s retro neon glow, and it’s fascinating. There are shifts in the way it seems within the completely different time durations and places, with extra results being utilized to the crew of the Tiger and a larger emphasis on strong colors on the extra distinct Kirby-inspired flashbacks illustrated by say Benjamin Marra.

Likewise, Simon Bowland’s lettering helps carry a consistency to the general stream of the story, with some attention-grabbing designs for digital voices, laptop readouts, alien languages, and extra. Bowland is a really versatile letterer and he exhibits some great talent right here.

Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers from Casey, Fox, Simpson, Bowland, and a bunch of great visitor artists is a really enjoyable, entertaining journey that captures the spirit of Kirby in an thrilling manner. It updates one in all his lesser identified properties and likewise provides a nod to the Fourth World alongside the way in which.

Basic Comedian Compendium: CAPTAIN VICTORY AND THE GALACTIC RANGERS

Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers

Author: Joe Casey
Artists: Nathan Fox with Jim Rugg, Ulises Farinas, Michael Fiffe, Jim Mahfood, Farel Dalrymple, Benjamin Marra, Connor Willumsen, Nick Dragotta, Dan McDaid, Tradd Moore, and Grant Morrison
Colourist: Brad Simpson
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Writer: Dynamite
Launch Date: July 20 2016