Storm Dogs vol. 1

This wasn’t on my “must buy” list but I decided to give it a shot anyway.  It’s just that the idea of a science fiction story that was part “Star Trek,” part “C.S.I.” sounded appealing to me and it had that “unknown new title from Image” vibe to it so that was a plus too.  What writer David Hine and artist Doug Braithwaite have given us here is a pretty good story that doesn’t hew exclusively to those two sources for inspiration.  I’d have no problem giving this my full recommendation if it wasn’t for the awful cliffhanger ending we get at the end.  Also, the awful cover too.

The planet Amaranth is edge of known galactic civilization.  If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s home to some fairly primitive natives, and entitled to “protected status” from the Union of Free Independent States, it’d be a prime jumping off point for exploring the rest of the galaxy.  As is, the planet is the kind of interstellar backwater where the dregs of civilization come looking for work regardless of their pasts.  It’s also where several colonists have been brutally murdered during the planet’s acid storms for reasons which are not immediately obvious.

Much to the surprise of the local constabulary, the Union has sent in a team to investigate this matter.  It consists of mission commander Cassandra Borroughs, professor of anthropology and cultural envoy Masika Zenda, forensic pathologist Jered Hoffman, and trooper first class Siam Locke.  Each has varying degrees of personal baggage they’re bringing to the planet, but they’re all very good at their respective jobs.  So good, in fact, that they may wind up dying because the real purpose behind their presence here isn’t what they’ve been led to expect.

I mentioned that “Star Trek” and “C.S.I.” weren’t the only inspirations for “Storm Dogs” — you can also see generous amounts of “Avatar” and “Firefly” in its D.N.A. as well.  Snarkiness aside, this isn’t really a bad thing as Hine mixes these influences together in his narrative to come up with something that may not be new but is at least a clever amalgamation of what has come before.  The writer does do a good job with worldbuilding here, giving the reader enough insight into the Union here and some of its operations on other worlds that you wonder what life is like outside this planet.  As for the core mystery, it’s handled pretty well with a nice steady flow of developments to keep you interested throughout the volume.  

The cast could’ve used a bit more development as Jered is really the only person who gets to develop beyond his character type.  That’s done through his relationship with a hermaphrodite who rents out his/her body for others to inhabit and use.  It’s a weird, challenging situation that the character finds himself in and makes for one of the more compelling parts of the book in the end.  It would’ve been nice if the other characters could’ve gotten the same development, but it’s at least worth noting that even if they don’t develop much beyond their genre archetypes.

However, it is nice to see Braithwaite flexing his skills in a new direction by tackling this purely science-fiction material.  I’ve previously seen his work on “Universe X,” the third volume of Ennis’ “Punisher MAX,” and the first volume of Gillen’s “Journey Into Mystery” (where I wish he could’ve stayed until the end).  So the man has shown that he can do quality superhero work for a while now, but he shows here that he has some great sci-fi design sensibilities as well.  He’s good at creating distinctive aliens and technology that looks sufficiently advanced on this rural world.  I also like his work with the characters here, with the hermaphrodite Doll displaying a softness that’s uncommon to his “chiseled from rock” style.

However, I don’t know if Braithwaite or Hine is to blame for the cover image to this volume because it is terrible.  “Storm Dogs” refers to an interesting bit of the planet’s history, yet looking at the cover you may think that this is “Emo Spaceman:  The Comic.”  I’m not even sure which character that’s supposed to be there.  It’s an image which tells you nothing about the series and whoever thought that it would make a good one to put on the cover was greatly mistaken.

Unfortunately it’s not the worst part of the book as the nature of the ending really annoyed the hell out of me.  We get two big twists at the end:  one involving the natives and another about the real reason the team was sent to Amaranth.  They ramp up the tension very well right before hitting you with a “Continues in Storm Dogs:  Season 2” message.  It’s a momentum-killer rather than an excitement-builder made more frustrating by the fact that we’re left with no idea when or if we’ll actually see this “Season 2.”  

Yeah, I’ll buy it when it comes out because I liked this volume.  It just feels frustrating to have to deal with waiting when I had no idea to expect it going into the story.  If you don’t mind waiting, then go ahead and pick this up now.  Just know that you won’t be getting a complete story here.