COMIC BOOK REVIEW: BRAGNOC #1 / AUTHOR: MICHAEL G. MELIM / ARTIST: MICHAEL G. MELIM / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

New comic Bragnoc has undoubted style in huge abundance. Whether there is ultimately enough substance within its pages to sustain this new Kickstarter-launched publication is difficult to ascertain from the inaugural edition’s prologue. Michael G. Melim’s space saga begins with Genesis, the first in a (promised) vast collection of stories. The proposed collection will follow mankind as it journeys out into space following an apocalyptic global war and subsequent rebuilding leading to the Earth’s over-population. This is one comic that is certainly not lacking in ambition.

There are one or two interesting points that can be gathered from this teasingly-thin comic, and ones that hint at an immersive and engaging story to come. First contact has been made with at least one other galactic race, possibly malevolent, and multi-levelled conspiracies are implied. There is a saviour to be found or destroyed depending on your point of view, and the familiar knowledge that somewhere along the line, a hero will emerge.

The story may be hard to fathom from such a brief first look but the artwork is definitely not. This is a stunningly beautiful comic, blending sci-fi edginess with film noir shadowing; space noir if you will. Stark, sharply drawn lines emphasise a clinical society supported by the underlying subtext and expanses of seemingly unused black space lend weight to themes of shadowy conspiracies.

What happens next in this series will be eagerly anticipated by anyone who reads it, but how long that intrigue lasts could be determined very, very quickly. Bragnoc has definitely hit the ground running but with references to sci-fi standards such as The Fifth Element and Blade Runner it needs to keep this momentum up.