Publisher: Action Lab Entertainment
Writer: Dino Caruso
Artist: Chad Cicconi
Colourist: Francesca Zambon
Release Date: OUT NOW!!!
Price: $3.99

In Blue Hour #1 Wardell Combs is a war hero from a war nobody cares about, least of all the low-life miscreants who are intent on trashing the bar where Combs is currently employed as a bouncer.

A curious opening for Blue Hour #1 which, according to the blurb, is meant to be a sci-fi epic set on a distant planet with a blue sun said to visit evil and ruin on any who dare to venture out in its indigo rays. But then, openings are meant to grab the attention of the reader and it certainly does that, especially as the bout of impromptu fisticuffs is simply a ruse for Combs’ old war buddy, Everett, to recruit him as part of the project that will take a group of colonists to the stars after a great resource war has devastated the earth.

A quick hop two years into the future in Blue Hour #1 and we’re on Crux 4, a planet with two suns, one yellow and one blue. Not all the local population, the Maasym, are keen on the new arrivals it seems and before you know it, Blue Hour #1 becomes a good, old-fashioned, space western with the Maasym taking the place of the Native Americans and the colonists cast in the role of roistering cowboys. Combs and Everett are the Sheriff’s in this here town but as the ‘Blue Hour’ works its magic can anyone really be trusted to keep the peace?

Chad Cicconi’s artwork is unusual for this sort of genre and gives Blue Hour #1  a distinctive quality making it stand out. Dino Caruso’s script is workmanlike without being outstanding and much will depend on how the characters develop over the coming issues. A brisk and efficient scene setting debut with promise.

Blue Hour #1 is worth your attention.

 

 

Reviewer: Gary Orchard
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker