Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising 2

Comic Book Reviews: Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising

posted on February 14th, 2009 in Reviews

Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising #2
Created by Mark Long & Nick Sagan
Written by M. Zachary Sherman
Illustrated by Bagus Hutomo Rahardjo & Leos “Okita” Ng
Published by Radical Publishing
Reviewed by Richard Caldwell

The story of Shrapnel is excruciatingly epic in scale.
Set amidst the tail-end of an interplanetary war, the Earth Alliance is closing in hard on the last free colony, on Venus. Bombarded by Marines, the Venusian colonists are losing fast, until one woman- Samantha Vajaya, is forced by extreme circumstances to reconcile her past for the future survival and freedom of everyone around her. Vajaya was once a Marine herself, and is haunted by the brutal memories that years of war tend to provoke in persons possessing of conscience. Regardless, she is made to realize that her skill, her experience, are the only chance the colonists have.
This is epic, really. This is high-quality, high-concept science fiction at its very best.
If you were a fan of the short-lived television series Space: Above and Beyond, from creators Glen Morgan and James Wong, then this may well be for you. If you were disgusted by the drivel that director Paul Verhoeven instilled in Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, this may well be for you.
As the United States Marines are fulfilling the role of aggressors here, enforcing the laws of the Earth Alliance for “the betterment of all mankind” and so clearly and violently overlooking the freedoms of those who see things differently, is this a timely meditation on the arguably synonymous and ongoing Middle Eastern conflicts of today’s real world? No. I believe this is a thoughtful meditation on the difficult decisions, the shear ugliness prevalent in ALL wars. Nobody ever sees themself as the villain, though lives are lost no matter which side is pulling the trigger. War is hell, in the obvious terms of physical devastations though also in terms of the emotional, as personably executed here by the strong character of Vajaya. Her internal war is every bit as abrasive and impossible as the alien fields of armored monstrosities and explosions through which she must now guide the colonists.
The imagery of this comic is astounding. Though at times the finer details of the story may be a bit lost in the widespread scenes of Venusian battlefield confusion and armored soldiers blasting each other to kingdoms come; the frames seem so much more like shots from a big budget science fiction movie than from a four-colored traditional comic book experience. While the setting may be of the fantastic, the dimensions are kept quite realistic- the people look like people, and indeed the quiter scenes seemed to have more of an impact on my reading experience. Do not get me wrong, however- dark and storm-clouded, this is what a future war SHOULD look like.

Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising promises to be the start of an epic space fantasy. Like Vajaya herself, this work looks to be off and running in the right direction. Superb.