Sunday, July 9, 2023

FORTIER'S BEYOND THE STARS: JOIN THE GALACTIC MISSION

Author Ron Fortier has launched a new space opera, with grand, visual assistance from artist Andrea Bormida and letterer Mike W. Belcher. The noble result is Silverline Comics' Beyond the Stars.

For the record, this sensational saga is on a par with Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Space: 1999, Space Cruiser Yamato, Dune, Message from Space and Battle Beyond the Stars, with a shot of Fellini Satyricon boosting its aesthetic margins. In other words, it holds the right vibe to become a classic. 

The melodrama transpires within fascinating and exotic quadrants, including the planets Haven and Sandine, as helmed by the mystical Modena Elkea ("The All Mother"). Elkea is aware of a destructive, galaxy-devouring anomaly (a V'ger-like force) and enlists an archeologist named Yonel Travane to help retrieve long-lost colonists, the Er-Keety (cosmic Atlanteans, if one will), within the mysterious Elgin Nebula.  The Er-Keety are the key to unraveling the taunting danger, but first they must be found, and that won't prove easy.  

Beyond the Stars also features such engaging characters as regal Master Ar-Naal and Science-Warriors Is-Brt and Kal, as well as crafty smuggler N'Atelle. (N'Atelle is, in fact, my favorite of the valiant queue, a sassy cross between Han Solo and Cleopatra Jones, with the admirable tenacity to get any job done, despite her self-serving flaws.) In addition, ardent-to-a-fault outsider, Ehrmet, figures in, bringing a ton of virile vitality to the set-up. (I've a strong hunch Ehrmet is going to empower this exploit in a big-time way.)  

What stands is already stupendous, but there's so much more to come from Beyond the Stars. I'm most anxious to see where Fortier, Bormida and Belcher take the adventure next!

The first issue is currently available through Indy Planet, with the second in digital form through Kickstarter. Variant covers are available, making this ongoing chronicle a collector's dream.

Join the galactic mission at

https://www.indyplanet.com/beyond-the-stars-1

and

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/silverlinecomics/march23

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