Everything must come to an end … unless it doesn’t?
Creative Staff:
Writers: Miloš Slavković and Mirko Topalski
Art: Miloš Slavković
Color: HMT Studio
Letterer: Andrej Bunjac
What They Say:
An assassin is out for Jazzman’s blood-seeking revenge for a promise broken years ago. Or was it just yesterday? Relativity encounters immortality, and friends who have become old enemies are reunited in a quest for a secret that may save the galaxy & hidden in a radio play from the 1930s!
Content (please note that portions of review may contain spoilers):
The crew of the Argonaut finally behold prize which Jazzman has been looking for all this time – the planet which his beloved princess has exiled to with her selfish king. However while this knight may have been able to escape his ghastly fate, she was not so lucky and thus imprisoned upon a tomb world in which time is frozen within the depths of space. And while normally anyone foolhardy enough to land upon such a place would also become suspended between the ticks of the clock, this desperate radio pirate has a plan for such a situation. The singularity priest Templo he assisted in rescuing his people is able to freely manipulate gravity and now it is time to return the favor, and while this man is willing to aid his savior in this time of need, the act itself will not be easy but he is willing to try.
As the team walks among parades of frozen servants and funeral processions for the important now long dead, January cannot but make the obvious statement they seem to be the only ones alive here, until the sprite Sixty-Nine notices the shadows are moving. And while Lee recognizes the other intruders as those who originally hired her to assassinate Jazzman, they do not wait for an explanation, instead they are all too happy to complete the job themselves. Although these people are confident they can easily dispatch the traitor and her friends, it does not take long before the employer finds himself defeated and his body being searched for a clue. Without much fuss Samson soon finds a map for the planet’s gruesome layout, quickly locating the crypt of his long dead monarch and hopefully the goal of his lifetime’s search for answers. However as they approach the resting place it is readily apparent something is out of place: none of the grandeur for someone of his stature is shown from the outside appearance, there are no guards protecting the exterior and once they pass the entrance, the interior is just as barren aside from a lone person standing within the still chamber. Their leader does recall this man as being one of the king’s protectors nor an attendant … so who could this mysterious person be and how did he get inside a room which should have been sealed long ago?
In Summary:
From the beginning of Lightstep it appeared the story would anchor around our innocent protagonist January Lee, allowing the reader to explore the concept of literally being out of step with the rest of the universe, but unfortunately this intriguing idea became lost along the way shortly after she was rescued. As the tale progressed and our damsel in distress became indebted to her savior, writers Miloš Slavković and Mirko Topalski wandered away from this unique concept of various worlds having different rotational speeds and began several tangential tales which only served to confuse and bog down a genuinely singular story which would have been interesting to pursue, but now is left by the wayside to allow for a selfish mission all for our new focus of Jazzman. Although this departure could have been acceptable if they allowed for a plausible explanation, this courtesy was brushed aside in lieu of bombarding the audience with endless technobabble and never discussing the pirate’s or the universe’s obsession for seeking fragments of the radio program, let alone his connection to the main character in said melodrama. Instead we forge forward with issues which appear to be disjointed, reinforcing some backstory which we never fully understand until we reach the midpoint of the series and even then his link to the drama’s lead Samson is never truly disclosed, leaving us still in the dark.
Unfortunately the dilemma does not become any better as we still have the opening salvo of seemingly meaningless information with each issue – watching said radio drama being recorded far away on Earth and several hundred or thousands of years ago … all while being invaded by aliens? At first these incidents appeared to be nonsensical since we never had any reason to think they were linked to Jazzman’s hunt or the main story, to carry on the vernacular of the medium, they appeared to be radio static. However as these tidbits were disclosed and their underlying meaning became semi-understandable, we began to accept a larger conspiracy was unfolding and the main problems of Lightstep were now revealed: What does this unnamed script writer know about the future and how does he inject himself into this infatuation which the whole universe is willing to sacrifice anything to see how it ends? As the series ends readers are still as befuddled as before, maybe even more so, since we are never given a clear picture of what is happening behind the scenes and how everything interacts with story as a whole – all we are shown are ideas which we are left to speculate and an emptiness of not even knowing the first iota of clarity. Slavković and Topalski may have wished to give us a cliffhanger which leads into a revealing sequel, but for now all we are left with is a title which makes us feel we are trapped in the Lightstep itself, appearing to be several steps behind January and Jazzman all as the world unfolds to even more confusing mysteries.
However even within all of this purposeful confusion, the one shining moment within the title and the main reason most were attracted to the series is Miloš Slavković’s captivating illustrations of an alluring January Lee, the presumptive star of the book since she has been prominently displayed upon each cover in an attempt to draw our attention to this deceptive story. While the synergy of the artist’s own pastel based colors and later more concentrated palette of HMT Studio do help to create a world which is stunningly beautiful, you cannot deny it is this cooperative grandeur of a non cartoon based artwork which makes this title a pleasure to visually absorb all while being lost in his outstanding attention to detail and wonderfully emotive faces of the actors. And yet even within all of this spectacular graphic splendor, one cannot but be distracted by the stunning white hair framing January’s attractive face and the captivating softness of her curves, all enhanced by wondrous use of shadows to accentuate each sleek line of her obvious feminine form. This is the true flaw of this title: even as we know Jazzman is the centerpiece of the story due to a narrative shift, the reader cannot but be attracted to search out the aforementioned features of this secondary character. Then to add to the diversion of the imagery, it seems Slavković takes every opportunity to place Lee at the center of attention with model-like poses to emphasize her obvious female features and impossibly long legs, all to highlight the beauty of the woman in an effort to divert us from Jazzman’s obsession. It is this European approach of illustrating a scene with gorgeous layered colors which gives a richness of the environment which we do not normally see in Western comics, but at the same time the concentrated effort to distract readers by allowing January to be the focus of the story also creates a rift within the narrative – instead of putting the hero in the center, our attention is split, thus making this title an amusement as opposed to a memorable series.
Lightstep began as an interesting story for exposing a sheltered girl to the wonders of the universe, and yet it quickly became an overly complex and convoluted space opera which was lost within its own meandering story. By using beautiful artwork and an alluring secondary protagonist to attract readers, this series became uncertain of its own destination due to a narrative which is sorely lacking in the capacity to keep us interested because of too many splitting storylines and any lack of tangible information. If this is how Slavković and Topalski create a need to carry on their literary legacy, then either they are hoping for our uncanny understanding to carry on the curiosity or a want know how the story ends. Whichever may be the case, Lightstep only creates confusion which plagues clarity by allowing too much information to drag down a promising narrative, only to end up as a wild adventure which never truly blossoms to its fullest capacity. The effort is questionable to give a cliffhanger which is unwanted instead of understanding of what is actually happening since there are so many gaps in our understanding that we cannot fully appreciate the story, thus leaving us with a beautifully illustrated title which feels hollow due to a lack of an appreciative backbone.
Grade: C
Series Grade: C
Age Rating: T (for Teens)
Released By: Dark Horse/Eipix Comics
Release Date: April 3rd, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
