The ZooHunters is a space adventure following young Ty and his father as they travel from world to world, collecting rare alien animals and distributing them to zoos on various planets. It’s an interesting premise, and I love anything set in space, so I was eager to read this comic. So far, I’m underwhelmed. Issue one opens with Ty writing a letter to his mother in his journal. He’s in a hospital, quarantined. My first complaint is the text for the journal entry: white lettering is generally unreadable to me, but white lettering on a pale background was a terrible idea. Keep it simple, just change the font, it doesn’t have to be a problem.

We find out pretty quickly that Ty’s mother died months ago, and no one told him. He’s left with only his distant father for family. Now that Ty is able to leave the hospital, his father, Abros, has decided that it’s time for Ty to Become A Man and join the family business of trapping wild animals and delivering them to zoos on planets most likely alien from their own. Ty shows a bit of sympathy toward the first bunch of animals they deliver, and it seems he is a bit more sensitive than his father. I hope that he remains that way, or I’ll lose interest fairly quickly.

So far, there isn’t much to say about Zoo Hunters. #1 is simply setting the stage for what I hope will be an interesting comic, but this issue wasn’t particularly exciting or memorable. It does have a great premise, and Steigerwald has an opportunity to develop Ty into a well-written, fleshed-out character. Set in space, jumping from world to world, there are endless possibilities here; I just hope that they are fully explored.

Score: 3 / 5

Writer/Artist/Creator: Peter Steigerwald Publisher: Aspen Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 11/5/14 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital