SPACEMAN: "The series that H.G. Wells calls 'the comic I wish I was alive to read!'"

[arbre_rieur]

No, really, those were the words Vertigo used to describe the comic in its solicitations.



SPACEMAN stars Orson, one of several humanoids who were genetically engineered by NASA for missions into space.





Last issue, Orson's path crossed with a kidnapper's (semi-botched) abduction of a child celebrity named Tara.

Comments

[darkknightjrk]

I LOVE the dialogue in this...except for the last line. Man, Azz is usually far more subtle than that.

[captainbellman]

Traumatised, kidnapped orphans are not famed for their subtlety.

[rainspirit]

I gotta get this series.

[icon_uk]

It comes across as the sort of thing 2000AD would probably publish (minus the gratuitous swearing) and it would barely register. Not that it's not an intruiging idea mind you.

[mrstatham]

Yeah, but then 2000AD, these days, has the same problems that the Big Two do - They're known for Judges Dredd, Death and Anderson, the ABC Warriors, and a handful of others. Other stuff that comes out is usually regarded with scepticism or not nearly as recognised. In fact, the best purpose 2000AD serves outside of it's more famous characters is that it's basically a very, very good breeding ground for artists, these days. Like Frazier Irving. Or Phillip Bond or Jamie Hewlett, back in the day.

As it is, part of the appeal here is the creative team, I think. 100 Bullets was built on the back of Azz and Risso's incredibly strong collaborative skills, and getting the two of them back together, plus Dave Johnson on covers again, is clearly part of the appeal.

[mrstatham]

Huh. I think Wells would regard this as being as much a kick in the teeth as an Aldous Huxley novel. Wells was all about science making lives better, in an utterly optimistic approach, and from what I recall reading, he fucking hated Huxley for suggesting that science would basically make our lives blander, and more controllable. So methinks there's a great big dollop of cynicism in Vertigo's solicits.

[nemryn]

Either that, or Vertigo doesn't know much about Wells!

[mrstatham]

Given how intelligent and savvy people like Karen Berger are in their running of Vertigo (only occasionally being fucked over by the higher ups in DC), I doubt it's an intentional thing, and more of a joke.

[icon_uk]

Wells was all about science making lives better, in an utterly optimistic approach

"The Time Machine" doesn't really support that IMHO.

[mrstatham]

I've not read the Time Machine, but I did have to do a lot of critical reading on Wells for an art project this last year. And whilst he might not have always put it across in his work, he was a huge supporter of science and positive progression, it seems, to the point that, again, he loathed people who suggested otherwise.

[silicondream]

It really depends on the era of Wells' writing. He wrote tons of dystopic literature earlier in his career--"The Time Machine," "The War in the Air," "The Sleeper Awakes." That last may have directly influenced "Brave New World" itself.

Later on, he took a much more optimistic angle, writing stuff like "Men Like Gods." "Brave New World" was written as a direct reaction to "Men Like Gods;" Huxley wasn't just suggesting that science will screw up our lives, he was suggesting that the specific utopia proposed by Wells would be anything but. In that light, Wells' harsh criticism of Huxley is pretty understandable.

My impression is that Wells always felt that science and progress could either lead to utopia or apocalypse. As he got older he felt that it was his duty as an author to show the world how to follow the utopian path, in both fiction and nonfiction.

[espanolbot]

I thought that the time machine was extrapolating from the recently discovered laws of thermodynamics and applying it to the class system of Well's Britain, to suggest what would happen if it continued into the future?

At least, that's what we thought in the Science Fiction module we covered in my degree.

[eyz]

I'm loving it so far! :D