Review: Space Bandits #1

"Space Bandits" #1

Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Matteo Scalero
Color Artist: Marcelo Maiolo
Letterer: Clem Robins

Review by James Stone

Synopsis: "Thena Khole and Cody Blue are among the universe’s most wanted felons. Each the leader of their own criminal ops, they run heists across the galaxies - hopping from ship to ship to fleece everyone inside. But when both women are betrayed by their crews, the bandits only have one thing on their minds: REVENGE."

When Millarworld struck a deal with Netflix I had fears that we would start to see more TV and film content and less comics. I am happy to say that I was wrong. In 2019 we have already seen Magic Order, Prodigy, Sharkey The Bounty Hunter and now another excellent addition to the Millarworld collection Space Bandits.

This is a 5 issue mini series released on a monthly basis with issue one coming out on 1st July 2019. Thanks to the wonderful people at Netflix, Fantastic Universes were given early access to read the comic for review purposes.

I could sum up my whole review in three words "I loved it". That's not what people come here for though, so I will tell you why I loved it, without spoiling the story.

As per the synopsis above, in issue one we meet our two main characters: Thena Khloe and Cody Blue. They're both hard as nails bandits, running their own crew. It's not until they are both double crossed that their paths entwine... which is when the real fun really begins.

Thena and Cody are bad people who do bad things, but issue one shows us they both have a heart. There are moments of love, compassion and mercy. It's these elements that Millar details perfectly, by ensuring we know these girls can kick ass when they need to, but that's not all they are.

I'm very much looking forward to their journey of revenge, as I'm sure it'll be a path filled with destruction. I can't help but think the girls will become anti-heroes and do some good along their way, too.

The story is dark, dirty and gritty, which is complimented beautifully by the visuals of Matteo Scalero. The comic has a 1980's feel to it, which is depicted using typical, bright, neon colors. What I enjoy about Marcelo Maiolo's work is how he shifts the tone from a bright and vibrant night club scene to a dark and gloomy wasteland. With a mature rating Scalero and Maiolo are not afraid to go graphic and show us blood when the story requires it.

I wouldn't be a very good critic if I didn't highlight the areas which I didn't enjoy. Therefore I have to say the only problem I have with Space Bandits is that I have to wait a whole month for issue #2.

Conclusion

Space Bandits #1 is a fun, fast paced action space adventure which is full of crazy moments while being grounded in a level of reality. Revenge and retribution appear to be the themes that will drive the story forward, but it's the emotion and relationship drama that will connect people to the characters and keep them coming back.

Images Courtesy of Image Comics