Comic Review: Heist or How To Steal A Planet #1

Heist or How to Steal a Planet #1

Vault Comics

Writer: Paul Tobin

Artist: Arjuna Susini

Heist, or How to Steal a Planet #1 starts in media res with our main character, Glane Breld, running from assassins on a planet called Heist. He’s been out of jail for 9 hours and he’s already putting his team together. He’s going to steal the damn planet back from the imperial Dignity Corporation. Throughout the issue, we follow Glane as he meets his old friends, tries to recruit some new teammates, runs from a constant stream of assassins, and goes on an impromptu tour with an insistent but charming young tour guide named Brady. It’s undeniably a thrill.

The script from Paul Tobin manages to pack in tons world-building and exposition without sacrificing any of the fun, action, or adventure. We learn a huge amount about Heist, about its citizens and its history, and it never bogs down the energy of what’s essentially an issue long chase scene. The one less-than-stellar thing to say about the issue is that the characters are a bit clichéd, but there is a reason to believe that they’ll evolve in interesting directions. Paul Tobin was not a name I was familiar with going into this issue, but it’s a name I’ll remember now after reading through this issue.

The art here by Arjuna Susini, with excellent color work from Vittorio Astone, could’ve carried the issue on its own. It’s very reminiscent of what Liam Sharp is doing over on Green Lantern right now, but it has a messy-in-a-good-way exuberance to it that makes you feel like you’re Bladerunning through Mos Eisley. Every panel is packed with world-building details like holographic sharks, Kirby-esque hats on multi-eyed aliens, and what looks to be a crab-parrot on a dog-man’s shoulder. Had the story been lacking, this issue would have been worth it for the art alone.

This is a fantastic and promising issue. The world set up here is complicated, and dirty, weird, and interesting and I’m looking back through the issue now just to live in it a bit more. I highly recommend this issue and I’m very excited to see if Glane is going to pull off heisting an entire planet.