Comics are difficult. Telling a story is difficult. Creating a world through art is difficult. It’s when it’s done well that you think it’s easy. Even a bad comic took a lot of time and effort to put together and I still respect that. I respect anyone that’s willing to put themselves and their creation out there for others to read and possibly enjoy. I wish I enjoyed every indie comic I read. I do. I’ve been a fan of smaller press and independent comics since I found my first real comic shop to buy comics from. So it sucks when I read one that I don’t like or one that needed another draft or two before hitting the printers.
A Sky Beyond is about a race of humanoid monkey’s that look a bit Dragon Ball Z inspired. They grow bananas that are called the “ever-banana” because it can power star ships and cure the sick and feed the hungry. It’s a wonder food. Apparently we humans can’t share this or ask for seeds so we can grow our own and the Catarrhinians (DBZ monkeys) don’t want to share because we’re evil as hell. A particular family is almost captured by the humans, but they fight them off. Then their wife/mother gets blown up and they’re captured.
From there they mourn for zero seconds before worrying about finding the separated sister. They meet a captured alien that can free himself whenever he wants and a space beast which is basically a space turtle. Also it’s reiterated that humans are terrible creatures over and over.
The writing is very convenient in this story. The father character has created special suits for the family and so whenever our main character faces a challenge the suit conveniently already has the solution programed into it. The alien that can free himself whenever is again convenient. The turtle that can fly through space when they need it… convenient. There is no challenge that this team can’t get out of with just a simple line of dialogue. The characters all sound about the same and all of the dialogue is corny. Even the mother’s death is kind of corny which it shouldn’t have been.
The art is basic. It’s not terrible, but it has a long way to go before it’s good. The character designs are basic to poor. The alien they meet is basically a stick figure with a head. It’s really uninspired. The backgrounds were surprisingly detailed and while not anything particularly special, it could have been an empty mess. There’s some strange panels and angles used and overall I’m just not a fan of the style.
I could see kids enjoying this comic. I don’t know if it’s meant for kids, but I think they would be the only ones to enjoy this story. It has a lot of basic elements compiled together, but its execution is generic and frankly pretty dull. This is supposed to be a big adventure story, but I wanted off as soon as it started. There was no intrigue or excitement attached to this adventure and that’s a shame. You might have a difference of opinion and that’s fine. Again, I respect the creators for creating and trying. It’s not like they set out to make a comic I wouldn’t enjoy and if this sounds like something you might like then give it a shot.
Score: 1/5
A Sky Beyond #1 Story: Krista Michaels, Jessica D’Amelio Artist: Jessica D’Amelio Publisher: Starbot Comics Price: $2.99 Release Date: 10/14/15 Format: Digital