Steven Hoveke and Mike Scigliano write a murder mystery with a steampunk twist in Steamworld Chronicles: The Constantine Quest. It does start off a bit slow but be patience, young grasshopper. It’s like a steampunk Sherlock Holmes, it’s worth the wait. You’ll eventually find yourself totally engrossed. Here’s a little taste of what to expect; our protagonist Dr. Bowlsby, seems to be this curious scientist that finds himself helping the authorities retrieve top-secret evidence when a train derails for “unknown” reasons. Enter the villain of the story who remains somewhat aloof and one step ahead the game. His motives are still unclear but whatever it is he’s willing to hire stealthy assassins to do his dirty work. Dr.Bowlsby, also has that mysterious charm about him but may be no match for our villain.

Ben Risbeck, Mark Mckenna, Kote Carvajal, and John J. Hill collaborate on the impressive visuals in Steampunk Chronicles. Mckenna is a veteran in the comic industry so I was pretty excited to see him working on this one. I‘ve got a soft spot for the air ships and mechanical elements that is so quintessential steampunk that is depicted in this one. Just gotta say the artwork is spot on, Kudos.

A critique I do have about it is the lack of ladies in it. I know it’s still just part one and there’s a lot of time to introduce more characters but currently, it fails the Alison Bechdel test. If you don’t know what that is, google her and become enlightened. I’d love to see a strong female lead like Lady Mechanika walk in and take the cake. But I would definitely be up to reading the next one. There is somewhat of chaotic information overload going on though so hopefully part two provides some much-needed clarity.

Score: 3/5

Writers: Steven Hoveke and Mike Scigliano Artists: Ben Risbeck, Mark Mckenna, Kote Carvajal, and John J. Hill Price: $10.00 - print, $5.00 - digital Website