We are assured that capitalism will always survive because humans are never satisfied with the status quo and must push forward to whatever and wherever their “enterprising” minds take them. In the new sic-fi comic, “Drifter,” we see what some of these minds have wrought in a distant future both bleak and dangerous. Of sure, the environment, from one planet to the next, was the first to be compromised for these human settlers from the future. Is it a curse to be human? Our main character, Abram Pollux, stumbles upon the scene, barely surviving a crash landing to the lawless backwater world of Ouro. His first action is to kill a native point blank. Not off to a good start.
This first issue takes things slow or at least seems to since there’s a lot of information to process along the way. Like in a good Spaghetti Western, there’s always something to process even when the characters aren’t uttering a single word. The guy we’re supposed to be rooting for, like the lone wolf with the dangling cigar portrayed by Clint Eastwood, is not our first choice. We can see he’s nobody’s first choice. But, at some point, he must have done something right. And maybe he will do something right again. Abram, our command pilot no longer with a ship to command, is a lot of muscle and aggression. But he can’t help but feel regret and guilt.
It’s after Abram recovers from his encounter with one of Ouro’s reptilian creatures that he comes to see he is actually in something close to a little settlement in the Wild West. Some things never change. The script by Ivan Brandon (Wolverine, Men of War) has a steady beat mixed to a slow tempo that allows us to linger on moments and characters. The art by Nic Klein (Captain America, Thor) has a dreamy quality to it that is a pleasure to gaze upon. This is one of those comics that you can’t help but take your time with and go right back and read over. You know that this Abram Pollux dude has a heavy backstory and is liable to take some missteps before he finds his way. I’d say it’s a story on the right track.
In the afterward, Ivan Brandon gives props to the whole team, including artist Nic Klein, editor Sebastian Givner, letterer Clem Robins, and designer Tom Muller. As you’ll see, this is quite a visual treat with some added touches that bring it all to a very high level of excellence. One thing on the lettering, really good lettering is an art and the handwriting by Robins is spot on. Brandon describes it as “handwriting” and I do believe it is. Now, that’s a lost art but certainly viable. Whatever methods Clem Robins employed, it looks great.
DRIFTER #1 is available as of November 12 with the second issue due out December 17. For more details, visit our friends at Image Comics right here.
