Comic Review: Tartarus #1

Tartarus #1

Image Comics

Writer: Johnnie Christmas

Artist: Jack Cole

The first issue of Tartarus, a brand new mini-series from Image Comics, is out and about and I’m going to tell you everything about it!

Tartarus is touted as being an “adventure series with all the sci-fi drama of Breaking Bad set in Mos Eisley”. Now, I can’t say much on the Breaking Bad and Mos Eisley stuff, but I can confirm that it truly is, without a fraction of doubt, an adventure series and it most definitely is a sci-fi drama. It’s also a quite large first issue, with the page count going a bit over what you’d normally get for two issues. Yay!

Plot-wise, the book consists of two parts. These are titled ‘Below’ and ‘Above’, respectively. The first part follows young and fierce warlord – Surka – as she flees a maximum-security prison and is on her way to reunite with her child – Tilde. The second part moves the story forward some 17 odd years and focuses on Tilde, now a cadet at the Baxna Military Academy, working for the system that had imprisoned her mother. She is hanging around with a couple of friends aboard the Olympus Station that orbits the savage colony of Tartarus. But as it’s always the case, things are about to go down. Explosions will happen and secrets will be revealed, with our hero embarking on an epic adventure!

Despite the book being so lengthy, you’ll end up breezing through it. Johnnie Christmas, the writer of the book, does a wonderful job with the pacing of the story. Everything is in constant motion, but there is still enough room left for some neat exposition. Don’t get me wrong, there are some plot holes. The story is far from perfect, sure, but none of those plot holes are (that) glaring.

The character work is also worth the mention, especially the protagonist, Tilde. A thing I’ve noticed a lot of newcomers do when they start out in the industry is over-exaggerate with certain characteristics of their character(s). A character might come to learn a dark and terrible secret about their past and start screaming in disbelief. And yes, that is a valid reaction. However, this disbelief can often extend for way too long, giving us a character some might call ‘whiny’. But Tilde doesn’t dwell on it for too long. She is shocked, yes, and she is definitely in disbelief. When things escalate, she is quick to react and move past that shock. 

Now, while Johnnie Christmas’ writing might be impressive, I can’t say the same for Jack Cole’s artwork. It’s not that bad when the POV is further away from the action. Hell, it can actually get pretty damn beautiful and impressive, especially when the colouring evokes the look and feel of 80’s sci-fi comics. But the problems start with the closeups. It is then that you start to notice how rushed some aspects of the artwork look. And boy can the faces get ugly. The overall look of the book is reminiscent of Matias Bergara’s work on Coda, but way more muddled and way less detailed. There is potential here, but the art definitely needs some more work.

Despite the uneven artwork, Tartarus #1 is a pretty good book. The world is interesting, the characters are engaging and the twists and turns are exciting. I’m looking forward to seeing where the book goes from here. And Johnnie Christmas is definitely worth keeping an eye on.