ERIC TRAUTMANN
Given that comics are, in filmic terms, operating with an “unlimited special effects budget,” I find it both puzzling and sad that pop-lit genres like sci-fi and fantasy are grossly under-represented on comic shelves. Certainly, there are science-fiction or fantasy elements in the majority of superhero comics, but pure space opera, speculative fiction, and fantasy are exceedingly rare. Here are three of the best (and underappreciated) comics in this area.
1 Runners, by Sean Wang. Wang’s entertaining serial is pure space opera, centered on the adventures of a crew of aliens operating a smuggling operation. Blending the feel of Star Wars and the interpersonal dynamics of Firefly, there’s a lot to love about Runners. The tone is cheerful, the art is crisp and detailed, and best of all: it’s free. The original story arc, “Bad Goods,” is available in a black-and-white print collection, but the adventures of the crew of the Khoruysa Brimia are updated every week as a webcomic.
2 Orbiter, by Warren Ellis and Colleen Doran. It is exceedingly difficult to select material from Ellis’s body of science fiction work, as he is one of the genre’s few practitioners in comics. Orbiter is the tale of a failed NASA reawakened to human possibility when the space shuttle Venture—which vanished in orbit a decade prior, bringing down NASA in the process—returns. All but one of the crew is missing, and other mysteries unfold. Why is there soil from Mars in Venture’s wheel housings? And why is the shuttle now wearing skin? Ellis’s introduction—which discusses how, as he finished the graphic novel, the Challenger disaster occurred—is worth the price of admission all by itself.
3 We3, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. Originally released as three issues by DC Comics’ Vertigo, We3 is the tale of a military bioweapons experiment gone awry. The project—augmenting common animals to act as remote control soldiers—is about to be shut down, and one of the team scientists, feeling pangs of guilt, frees the three primary subjects before they can be destroyed. The “projects” are a dog, a cat, and a rabbit (poignantly identified as “Bandit,” “Tinker,” and “Pirate,” respectively, on the series’ covers, which were rendered as missing pet posters). Morrison’s work is occasionally prone to excess, but We3 is tightly focused, precisely written, and incredibly emotional. In many ways, We3 follows the pattern of a Disney film: three animals, lost and far from home, teaming up to find their way. In the hands of Morrison and Quitely, it is a much darker affair.
Eric Trautmann is a comic book writer, editor, and graphic designer. He wrote a number of comics for DC Comics (as both writer and cowriter), including Final Crisis: Resist, JSA vs. Kobra: Engines of Faith, The Shield, Mighty Crusaders, Adventure Comics, and others. He currently writes the continuing adventures of classic sword-and-sorcery heroine Red Sonja for Dynamite Entertainment as well as a revitalized Vampirella and Flash Gordon series. Eric is also a graphic designer and marketing consultant, through his Fedora Monkey Studio.