Cluster #1
Boom! Studios
Words:  Ed Brisson
Pictures:  Damian Couceiro

Cluster is a bit like OZ meets Starship Troopers: The Movie, but with some Mad Max vibes and minus the silicone of Denise Richards (there’s just something all weird and plasticy about her).

Maybe I should explain that a bit.  OZ, the HBO prison drama, not the land where wee folk wandered down brightly colored brick pathways, had a gritty, intense feel.  As well it should, being set in a prison and all that.  So does Cluster.  There’s a bit more to Cluster being as the prison is also a military base where you’re not just serving time, you’re serving your planet… And fighting for them as well.  The Starship Trooper vibe is more of a shoot from the hip feeling.  They’re in space; this book is set in space.  They fought aliens; the Cluster folks are fighting aliens.  Troopers (the movie anyway) had a wild, frenetic feeling to the action scenes; so does Cluster.  The Mad Max thing was really stemming from Grace’s Mohawk and some of the barren scenery on the planet.  So those are the vibes I’m getting from this book, and they’re all good ones.  (Cue Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch!)

Ed and Damian have come out swinging for the fences in this first issue, and they connect in a big way.  This first issue has everything I needed to get me hooked and ready for more to come.  You’ve got the mystery of our main character, Samara; the abrasive yet personable Grace; the harsh reality of fifteen years on a military prison planet; solid action; the drama of a plan gone not quite so right; and amazing art to carry it all through.

This is a solid start to what I hope to be a solid, long running title.  Go buy it.

4.6 out of 5 Green Mohawks