Comic Review: Lightstep #1 (Dark Horse)

Issue 1 of Lightstep, a new mini-series from Dark Horse/ EIPIX Comics, is simply astonishing. It is breathtakingly good.

The general story goes like this: January Lee is a woman of royal descent, coming from the ‘nearly perfect’ ruling class. She lives in a world that is far above and beyond most inferior worlds and has the gift of being able to see through lies by the official ruler. This puts her in a precarious position, as frankly, there are a lot of lies being flung around. The air is rarified, and it is indeed rare to see beyond the falsehoods. This ability soon puts January in the position of being banished.

The story is complicated in a “Game of Thrones” or “Godfather” sense: you need to educate yourself on the treachery and politics before the going gets really good. But I have a good feeling about this miniseries. It feels like Milos Slavkovic and Mirko Topalski have their writing chops. Doing double duty as illustrator, Slavkovic has turned out an absolutely stunning book here. Slavkovic’s artwork and colouring is jaw-dropping. The figures are like that of Michaelangelo. It is the Sistine Chapel here, with elegant postures of the elite draping themselves among their brethren and concubines alike. This book is a keeper!

The spacecraft, the people, the atmospheres and the dramatic scenes are some of the best I have ever seen in comics. The art and story style is similar to Moebius, but more precisely crafted. Like European comics in general, but available here in North America. Seriously, please have a look at this title!

Dark Horse Comics/ EIPIX comics, Lightstep #1, $3.99 for 24 pages of content. Assume Mature readers