Publisher: Boom!
Writer: Jackson Lanzing, Colin Kelly
Artist: Marcus To
Colourist: Irma Kniivila
Editor: Dafna Plaban
Release Date: OUT NOW!
Price: $3.99

Joyride #1 is Robert Heinlein meets Rebel Without a Cause. Uma Akkolyte is a restless troublemaker living on a dystopian Earth. With her friend Dewydd (Dude?) she has a plan to escape into space and see the universe. First stop, the Moon. But a young guard named Catrin aims to stop them.

In Joyride #1 Jackson Lanzing and Colin Kelly do a commendable job using natural dialogue to cover all the plot elements and immerse the reader in a new reality. “Stars, real genuine stars…Everything the Triumvirate locked away when they built that metal shell around the planet, and told us to stop caring about everything awesome that’s everywhere else,” Uma informs us.

Joyride #1 touches on all the themes we can expect to see going forward: totalitarianism, militarism, bigotry, and ignorance; but also hope and discovery. The only complaint is the dialogue and slang feels archaic to its surroundings. The writers should have taken a page out of Anthony Burgess’s Clockwork Orange, perhaps the ultimate example of fictional slang. Marcus To’s art is a pleasure to see, even if he’s seemingly allergic to backgrounds. And that’s where colourist Dafna Plaban fills in the blanks.

Joyride #1 is off to a good start. The story is engaging and never boring, and the characters’ groundwork has been laid. Hopefully, future issues will take us where no person has gone before.

Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker