By Pablo Arriaga

The latest installment of Joyride hits the ground running with the backstory of Kolstak, and what it means to be a wander, what happened to him, and mainly the reason he has so much hatred in his heart. Joyride has done a good job sending the message that people aren’t inherently good or evil; they are in that gray area where their actions or the things that happen to them shape who they are and they all should be heard in order to be understood. In Kolstak’s case, he is a being who has lived for thousands of years with the same hatred in his heart. Sometimes forgetting it, or trying to overcome it but always coming back to that same feeling.

What happens next in this issue, without giving away spoilers, has to do with Kolstak’s revenge on the Supervoid that controls the ship, and Uma taking charge in trying to figure out what’s happening and how to stop it.

Everything in this issue reaffirms the reason I wholeheartedly endorsed this comic from the beginning. It balances well with being quirky, witty and fun, with the weight that each of these characters carry and the reason they’re on board this ship, and escaped earth. Uma is a fully realized captain, takes action and responsibility for her decisions. She has gone from “I don’t care where we go as long as it’s fun!” to “I don’t care where we go as long as we’re all having fun together!”

I will not go into more detail about the story of this issue (read it!), but needless to say Joyride has become one of my favorite series this year, one in which many horrible things have happened. Joyride is a saving grace.

Eight issues into this series and Joyride continues to astonish with amazing visuals and dialogue that come from the heart. Lanzing, Kelly, and To have tapped into the inherently sensitive nature of teenagers without being self-serving about it. Teens have a tendency to wear their emotions on their sleeves, and these characters don’t shy away from that. Particularly Uma, a many times tested of one of the coolest ships in the galaxy.

Score: 5/5

Joyride #8
Writers: Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly
Artist: Marcus To
Publisher: BOOM! Studios