Review: Southern Cross volume 1

I finished Southern Cross volume 1.

I didn't enjoy it...

Feeling a little annoyed before starting this post I looked around and read some other reviews online and found while everyone is either squarely in the middle or unabashadly praising cloonan's writing, any praising of the art is decidedly cautious.

Okay then...

First about the writing;
I didn't find so much to praise here. The characters are unsympathetic and have half-arsed backstories consisting mostly of pointless accesories to give a veneer of depth where there really is none to be found.

The story though, I why I picked it up, because of my proclivities for mythological tales, is at the very least interesting; galactic mystery and horror gets my vote any time ever since those terrifying days when I first saw the Event Horizon.
any slight glimpse we get of the horror or supernatural occurences is really quite restricted. and oddly abstract. And I don't mean the good abstract as in Nameless either. no this is just hamfisted stuff.
It's also an ongoing comic and there's no resolution to the massive clifhanger there at the end.

Also, don't you just hate when writers cut a storyline short for the finale, while at the same time introducing a new character that will be super relevant for the next season on arc.
And they present that unknown new character like: TADAAAAA. Here he is! Cool huh?
Aaaand we have no idea why we should even care.

But the story is at least bare-bones servicable.
Here's my actual problem with Southern Cross, and for a comic it's a big one.

I find its art utterly horrendous...

I know, art doesn't make a comic. art is subjective after all and regardless of my views, any one piece will have its proponents and defenders.

But here everyone's face is a caricature. A bad one at that. The posing is off, everything feels stiff and emotionless.
Because of this I just couldn't connect with any single person. Belanger, the artist, is just bad with faces. Bad guys are caricatures of evil smirks and leers. While the should-be trustworth ones are pictures of stoic determination.

Look at this shit and tell me you like it.

No, You don't.

Liar.

Honestly, they remind me of the Red Knight comic during its worst art days.

All pantomime and no subtlety.

Language is dutch, if you're wondering.

The colours are washed out and extremely restricted (Southern Cross's colours are, at least the Red Knight has got its act together...sometimes) . In the age of comics like Saga and Fear Agent this comic can only be a let-down.

I, of course, understand that this is a decision the creators made. to give some visual equivalent to the cold dark loneliness of space. To summon up a feeling akin to that of  watching the original Alien movies. Claustrophobic tension onboard a grimy space-liner.

But in the end, everything falls flat and it just didn't work for me.

You shouldn't promote something because you back the writer or because you want to see more like it. You should promote something because it is legitimately good. and this really, really, really is not good. As such. call it bad and don't give it another chance.

If you want epic space horror with a female protagonist go read Garth Ennis' Caliban. At least that one will not dissappoint.

You'd think this is yet another cover using symbolism.
Spoilers: It ain't.

Our protagonist.

You've seen nothing yet. This is but the start of the madness.

So yes, that was Caliban. It's a done story, so you can't go much wrong with giving it a go.
Horror. Space. Lady protagonist. Gore and bad-ass bitches. What more do you need?
Better in every way than Southern Cross...

As of now I have the option of purchasing volume 2 when it comes out and I'm not sure what I'll do as of yet. the story seemed as if it could be on the turning point of actually becoming engaging. Or it could  mean that the first volume would only serve as a prologue to the entire series (which could be positive as well but more likely points to something really broken from the start). The mythology could be getting better...
On the other hand; the writing wasn't great and I'd have to suffer through another batch of bad art.

Hmmm what to do, what to do?

I wish there was a sequel to Caliban.