Jules Verne's Lighthouse #1

Jules Verne’s Lighthouse #1

Shadowline/Image Comics/Anomaly Productions 2021

Written by David Hine & Brian Haberlin

Illustrated by Brian Haberlin

Coloured by Gerrod Van Dyke

Lettered by Francis Takenaga

At the edge of the galaxy, there is a giant supercomputer known as the Lighthouse. The only brain powerful enough to navigate ships through a sargasso of naturally occurring wormholes, potentially cutting months or even years off a spaceship’s journey. Three humans, one alien, and a nanny bot have manned the remote station for years in relative peace until the arrival of Captain Kongre and his band of cutthroat pirates threatens the future of civilization and reveals that each of the Lighthouse crew has been hiding a shocking secret.

He who controls the Lighthouse controls this part of the galaxy.

Well now so far I don’t see much in common with Jules Verne but then again I’m not sure that I ever read the Lighthouse to begin with which I guess is something that I am going to have to rectify. I am so stoked for this book, first of all Sonata by this crew is an amazing series, so if this creative team has a book out it is most assuredly something that I am going to read. In my humble opinion they’ve absolutely gone and done it again here because this may have been a double sized issue but it certainly left me wanting more by the end of it. This is one of those books that takes science fiction to a whole new level and basically leaves the science out of it. Which is kind of unfortunate because I love when Star Trek science is trying to be utilised and well this does have a Farpoint Station feel to it.

I love how this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented beautifully. I mean this station is fully automated and living beings seem to be a mere formality which thankfully is the case or there would be no story is a perfect place for this kind of adventure to take place. The character development that we see is interesting and the more we see of the characters which through their dialogue as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter really help to flesh them out. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story and introducing the cast of characters you honestly wish you could be there.

The interiors here are mind numbingly gorgeous. The first page alone sets the stage for this and how we see the station and everything surrounding it you have wonder why places like this haven’t been built yet. I know it’s computer generated but the attention to detail that we see through how the linework with its varying weights and techniques are utilised is bloody well brilliant to see. Thankfully someone knows the importance of backgrounds and how they are utilised within the composition of the panels not only enhance the moments but bring us this amazing depth perception, sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show aa masters eye for storytelling. The colour work is simply divine. How the various hues and tones within the colours are utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is simply stunning. The way that we see space alone should be award winning worthy work and how the colours are seen and how they combine or separate shows such an understanding of how colour works.

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How this is being structured with the layers within the story and the roles they play in bringing depth and complexity to the book is outstanding. The way we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is sensational work. With a seriously complex set of character making up the skeleton crew and it’s newfound guests alongside some of the most mindbogglingly brilliant interiors the depth of storytelling here is second to none.