“We are already here.”
Creative Staff:
Story: Zack Kaplan
Art: Andrea Mutti
Colors: Jordan Boyd
Letterer: Troy Peteri
What They Say:
Seattle is scheduled for destruction in order to protect Earth from an alien outbreak. But to protect our authority over our own planet’s security, the ESA will have to face off with our alien partners in the ultimate game of espionage, politics, and galactic business.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Jumping into Port of Earth with the last issue was an interesting experience and I know I’m missing lots of details and context as we get to this issue, which wraps up the third “volume” of the run. Zack Kaplan has done several books I’ve enjoyed elsewhere so it’s been easy to get into the rhythm of things here and I definitely like the ideas he’s playing with, familiar as they are. Andrea Mutti has long been a favorite of mine – from his revolutionary war comics of all things – and his work here hits a certain sweet spot that has me really digging it because it’s minimal in a way but intriguing with a roughness that speaks to my particular quirks. I like his alien designs a lot even as most – but not all – of them stick to a humaniform design.
The book has built well with the whole virus element and the aliens that are being hunted which has lead to the bombing of Seattle being in the works. That comes to fruition here, though they do attempt to stop it just a few moments too late, as more information has come in that things aren’t what they seem. It’s an engaging piece as we see it unfold after spending time with a couple of the resistance fighters making sure that they really do understand what they’re doing and their commitment to the life that they’re about to get into. Playing to both sides with one of them, the other is working with the resistance to get the uninfected aliens out to Canada and hopefully figure out what else is really going on here. This plays well against Valencia as we see her dealing with being cornered by the Consortium agent at the pier as it’s made clear to her just how weak her position is. Of course, human perseverance gives her an out that now puts her partnered with McIntyre.
What I really like are the bookend pages of what’s going on here as we get Rogoro with the pundit as they talk about the ties between Earth and the Consortium. As we ostensibly move through late-stage capitalism in real-time in the here and now, watching as the superior capitalistic Consortium applies its logic and benefits to the younger and hungrier potential partner is fascinating. Nothing that the Consortium is offering in terms of how the business of it works is new and they two go back and forth noting how things have been on Earth since forever. And that humanity doesn’t learn from its mistakes, which is certainly amusing and true. But there’s a difference between various groups of humans employing something like this within a small sandbox and being emptied as a species as a whole by such a hegemonistic force as the Consortium. Everything Rogoro says comes across with such a dripping evil, not in tone but in the actual words, that it’s utterly chilling as you see people willing to sacrifice themselves and others for a sliver of profit.
In Summary:
Science fiction is always good for talking about the problems of today in a different context and Zack Kaplan is executing that well here. This is very much a modern era book as it works within our political and social fears while mixing in a lot of what’s happening with capitalism. Everything is connected and feels it well here, though from the two issues I’ve read it hasn’t dealt much with the social side. I’m definitely intrigued by this as a whole and am definitely keeping an eye out for the older issues in the collected form to get caught up so that when book four gets underway I’ll be on top of things. This is definitely a book to get into and engage with.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Image Comics / Top Cow
Release Date: July 17th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
