Port of Earth #1, from Image, is a comic with a strong and original concept but finds itself slowly drifting from page to page, trying to gather momentum. Is it worth our time?
Written by Zack Kaplan and drawn by Andrea Mutti (colors by Vladimir Popov), Port of Earth takes place in the future. Earth is visited by a delegation of alien business leaders, hoping to use earth as a “gas station” on the intergalactic travel route. Well, that all sounds great, but of course, things don’t work out as planned. It seems that some aliens are sneaking off their vessels, and raising hell on earth. Enter two young security officers, Mcintyre and Rice. They’re assigned to monitor an area of territory where trouble is known to occur.
Things do develop slowly in Port of Earth, and it’s a shame. It seems the balance is off: the first 20 pages or so are concerned with setting the stage for later action. Mutti and Popov’s art is a bit stiff and formal, with a reliance on grey tones. It’s a muted new world!
Ultimately, this one has a good story but is slow to develop. Keep an eye open for issue 2, where it will likely pick up thrust!
Port of Earth #1, Image Comics $3.99. 25 pages of story, plus character sketches and a “galaxy map”.
Newsdesk