“Do you work a job or does your job work you? Has your so called career made you dead inside? Well, the Intergalactic Postal Service wants you. Ex-convict, ex-real estate agent, total paranoid schizophrenic— it doesn’t matter. Sure, this job is dangerous. But you’ll be your own boss, rake in the cash, and feel truly alive again.” (SpaceBastards.com)
Space Bastards is a comic-book idea that’s been in the mind of creators Eric Peterson and Joe Aubrey for years. The book serialises the gleefully violent adventures of the Intergalactic Postal Service, an organisation that specialises in the transportation of goods across the Cosmos. The concept by itself is fertile ground for story telling – add the fact that the postal workers can use whatever means necessary to make a delivery including intercepting the current delivery agent which leads to what the accompanying website describes as VIOLENT AND SAVAGE ACTION that ain’t for kids and you’ve got a recipe for a good setup, think Fed-Ex meets Lobo (the original limited series and not the ongoing or the Krypton version) meets Battle Royale (the 2000 movie) and add a splash of classic 2000AD.
The first story is entitled Tooth and Mail where we meet David Proton, a salary man working for a big corporation who suddenly finds himself unemployed due to budgetary cuts. He soon joins the Intergalactic Postal Service and we’re along for the ride on his first day on the job.
There has been an explosion of independent creators trying to make a name for themselves and stand out from the crowd. The book produced by Peterson and Aubrey instantly stands head and shoulders above the rest on the production values alone.
The physical copy of Volume 1 is an impressive hardback, a piece of art that wouldn’t look out of place on designer coffee table. The front cover design is striking with clever use of white space that makes the art by 2000AD alumni Boo Cook pop.
Joining writers Peterson and Aubrey on the credits is a who’s who of comics royalty: Darick Robertson (The Boys, Transmetropolitan, Happy); Simon Bisley (Lobo, Judge Dredd, Slaine and the Horned God ) and Gabriel Bautista (The Life After, Dead of Winter, Charley Loves Robots, Elephantmen , God Hates Astronauts). The writers themselves don’t rest on the A-game talents of their artists. They have created a futuristic, fun and complex universe, weaving together rocket fuelled action pieces, character moments and corporate shenanigans that leave you wanting more. This is the most anarchic fun I’ve had reading a comic book since I Hate Fairyland by Skottie Moore and I can’t wait for volume 2.
Visit the Space Bastards website for more information and previews.
Guernsey Geek On 