Creative staff:
Story: Mike Richardson
Art: Fernando Baldo
What they say:
The crew of the ruined Maelstrom struggle to survive against the rigors of space and deadly alien specimens loose in the wreckage!
Content: (Please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers.)
And I thought that things were getting tense in issue two.
But no, here in issue three of Deep Gravity things continue to go from bad, to worse, to oh-crap-my-torso’s-gone kind of bad.
The sudden and action-oriented turn that surprised me in the previous issue continues to unfold here, and thankfully proceeds to get more dramatic as well. The crew of the Maelstrom is hanging from a fine thread, dealing with potential death-by-vacuum, death-by-fire, death-by-alien, and even death-by-sabotage in their attempt to vacate the ship and its decaying orbit. It’s quite a far cry from the curiously meandering introductions of the initial floppy.
In order to fit in all this desperation, events are moving at a blistering pace. Things start off with a modest plan to jump un-protected into the vacuum of space to get at the bridge, which immediately becomes a “holy crap jump into space because a voracious alien just bisected a guy behind us” kind of deal. This is immediately followed up by revelations of sabotage, explosions, and a light, searing jaunt into the planet’s atmosphere. There’s some dialogue in there as well, but it’s mostly death screams, heated shouting/insults, and one fairly awkward and out of place romantic admission of guilt. But given the situation, it’s mostly pretty lively back and forth.
I’m only gaining more appreciation for Fernando Baldo’s unique, gritty art style as well. The highlight of the issue, the visceral and panic-stricken space jump, is beautifully rendered and perfectly paced. His depictions of space and sci-fi imagery are pleasantly out of the ordinary, popping and sparkling like a dark Lisa Frank sticker collage. If there’s one grievance, it’s the somewhat generic monster design, but overall the art continues to impress.
In summary:
The crew’s time in the Maelstrom looks to be ending soon, and things are coming to a head. People have made their peace and dicks have received their comeuppance. Where they go from here is anyone’s guess. I blazed through this issue and overall it’s a very smooth, very enjoyable read.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 24, 2014
MSRP: $3.99
