The first issue of this title established the “sci-fi with magic” concept that is at the heart of the series. The second issue took a step or two back and spent its time laying out the rules for that mixture works in this world. Nowhere near as exciting, but necessary for the overall whole. Now in The New Space Age #3, all the setup begins to pay off, and we see this series start to meet its potential.
The Wright Brothers, This Ain’t
We start right in the thick of the action, as Mark Mitchell is completing an in-atmosphere test flight for the magical rune-powered spacecraft he and his friends have been building. On the ground, Stacey Pulkowski and Bobby are reviewing the data and want to run more tests. However, Mark says they are ready enough. It is time to build the real thing so he can go find the little brother of the pilot, Joey.
One montage later, the team is ready for the real thing, which is the first test of actual space travel. The test is a success, and so Mark decides to go for broke. He immediately starts scanning for rune energy, and when he finds a trail, he follows it!
Defying the laws of physics as he travels faster than light, Mark finds himself on an alien world where even the sound works differently. He experiences some kind of time-shadow effect while he moves around. He is met by a huge and bizarre alien being whose language is indecipherable, but the entity shows Mark designs on a pillar in the shape of Joey! Although he cannot understand the words of the alien, Mark gets the message loud and clear. Humans have not earned the place of humanity among the stars yet. The lesson is that the failure lies in the heart, and not in the mind.
As Mark returns home with what he has learned, Bobby completes the betrayal that began in the last issue. He delivers all of the designs and research of the team to the military! Mark returns just in time to save Stacey, and they manage to escape, but the damage has already been done. That is okay. I am sure the military having access to all that rune tech will not end badly at all.
Sense of Wonder
Now this is what I signed up for. No more dancing around it, we are going full space sci-fi this issue. And it is pretty darn cool.
In terms of pacing, it is actually hilarious how quickly this issue goes from a simple test flight to seeing crazy alien worlds and beings, yet it works. Given how the character has been established up to this point, it makes perfect sense that Mark would want to start looking for Joey right now. When he learns the lesson that the world is not ready for what he and his friends have done, he does not ignore it. He takes it to heart and rushes home to share it. That willingness to set the personal drive aside for the greater good shows that he has a few more layers to the character than we have seen so far.
On the other hand, utterly lacking in the layers department is Bobby. The betrayal that was always coming hits right about when you would expect it to, and the motivations of the character are no less generic than they were last issue. He is really more of a plot device than a character, which I guess is okay, since he does not get a lot of panel time anyway. It is not like they made us fall in love with him before the betrayal. He has pretty much been a tool since the start.
I wish I had more to say about Stacey, but other than being the one with ties to the magic world, she is just kind of there.
I do find myself a little concerned about the time jump at the end and how the story is going to turn from here. The U.S. military getting involved in these kinds of stories seldom works out well, so I hope this change in direction does not squash all of the momentum that we have built so far. That being said, I really have no idea where things are going to go next, and that is a great thing.
Blueprints and Spellbooks
The creative team is once again Kenny Porter and Mike Becker, providing words and pictures, respectively. The team has really found its stride with this issue. After the slowdown in the last issue for a lot of technical stuff, Porter puts the foot on the gas and keeps things moving at a steady pace. There are a few good character moments in between the action, but mostly, we are moving from set piece to set piece. Nothing feels out of place.
On the art side, Becker has made great strides in terms of style. Everything is a little more detailed. He seems to have slimmed Mark down just a little bit, so he does not seem as humorously hulking over everyone now. Mostly, he gets to go nuts with designs this time around. The spacecraft itself is an interesting look, spherical with wings that appear when actually in flight. But it is the alien world and the inhabitants of the planet where Becker really gets to cut loose. Some very cool, very alien designs are in there. No little green men are to be found.
Colorist Kevin Betou has been having a pretty good time up to this point with all the green rune effects and the like, but this issue, he gets to go nuts, too. The glowing effect around the ship in flight, the lighting in the scene where the trio waits on the roof for sunrise, and, of course, all the space happenings, there is cool stuff on every page in this book.
Puzzle Home
The New Space Age #5 shows that the whole creative team is firing on all cylinders. They have delivered a product that is visually spectacular but still has a beating heart underneath all the spectacle. All the setup to this point has paid off, giving us some great science fiction in the moment. Then, the combination of the discovery of Mark and the betrayal of Bobby turns the whole thing on its head and leaves us wondering where the story is going to go next. If you like science fiction or just something a little off the beaten path, this could be the book for you.