A slow start to an abduction story.
Creative Staff:
Story: Anthony Cleveland
Art: Antonio Fuso
Colors: Stefano Simeone
Letterer: Justin Birch
What They Say:
Years ago Shae, her brother Kenny, and two childhood friends experienced a traumatic, unexplainable event that left Kenny scarred for life. Kenny commits himself to the belief that what they experienced was an alien abduction. Twenty years later and the friends have since drifted apart, but the sudden, mysterious disappearance of Kenny leads the group to reunite and discover the truth of what took place all those years ago.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Mad Cave Studios has some interesting series coming out and one that really caught my eye was Stargazer because of the artwork. I’d fallen in love with some of what I’ve seen Antonio Fuso do on a few other series and with the color design here from Stefano Simeone, well, I was hooked on this just visually. The book works more colors than the cover but the cover is very representative of the over style and executes it well. The story from Anthony Cleveland falls into a kind of familiar abduction story routine which didn’t surprise me for this opening installment but it almost has a kind of CET3K element early on that made it easy to stick with and want to check it out more. There’s a solid cast of characters here that are going to play to two different time periods across twenty years and that has its own advantages creatively to work with.
The initial premise has us seeing a group that obviously deals with aliens coming to Earth back in 1999 but they’re not entirely sure what these visitors are up to, hence a whale being dumped in the middle of the Sahara desert. We don’t get much here but it’s a strong tease for me of a bigger picture as it shifts to a small town in Colorado where we meet a group of young women that are friends, all in their early teens by appearances, who are doing some stargazing and chatting about things. Shae has brought her brother Kenny with her so he can actually do the stargazing and he’s kind of like a stick in the mud, focused just on that and not interested in much else while the girls go on about the Quest game strategy guide that Hailey brought. Things take a weird turn, however, when one of the other kids realizes they brought their older brother’s backpack by accident and pulls out some LSD of all things. Suffice to say, nothing actually happens because of it but some weird time/space event happens that has Kenny falling from a good height and not well forevermore because of it.
That puts us in the present where Shae is just focused on her work and dealing with taking care of Kenny in the little tiny home that he lives in. Kenny’s gone on for years about visitations and what’s coming back for him and while it doesn’t get frenetic, it’s true believer material that leaves Shae incredibly frustrated. Watching that play out while getting the flashback of seeing how different he became after that initial event and the family rift created is difficult. There’s guilt and weariness about a lot of it and Shae is just trying to move forward in some sense here. Of course, the past has to keep coming back to haunt and watching as that even unfolds and how it’s going to scar Shae even more, nevermind whatever is that’s happening to Kenny, and you’re left wondering just how far this series will go in showing what’s going on.
In Summary:
There’s a lot to like here but it also felt like it needed just a bit more to provide the right hook to bring you back. I’m back easily as Fuso’s artwork is great and the tease at the beginning with the whale has me hoping that there’s more of this bigger picture mystery at play in the series. Cleveland’s story is a family story first and foremost right now and that’s certainly not a bad thing as wrapping that up in an alien abduction works well. It just needs a little more to bring it together and hook us fully with the cast and what’s going on in the world – or off-world. It’s a solid book with great visuals and worth checking out if this genre is your thing.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Mad Cave Studios
Release Date: September 3rd, 2020
MSRP: $3.99
