Menagerie #1

Menagerie #1

Second Sight Publishing 2021

Created & Written by Ramón Govea

Illustrated by David Monge Bautista

Coloured by Sean Lee

Lettered by Toben Racicot

When a research outpost on the edge of the galaxy is captured, a team of lethal Space Operators heeds the call to rescue the who's who of civilian scientists and researchers. But personal secrets and unexpected agendas bubble to the surface and a mutiny sends the rescue mission lightyears off course... to a new and unusual planet with unusual rules.

I am a huge fan of Second Sight Publishing and it is books like this one that shows exactly why. This is so well put together and just incredibly executed that it is a joy to read. After this I definitely want to know what is going to happen next and Ramón really manages to flesh these characters out so that we can empathise, relate and find those that we actually like and care about in such a short amount of time. It is impressive to see something like this happen in such a strong way. I will say that the way we learn of the mission would have benefitted from a first page breakdown but we still understand what the team is doing there and what the end goal is.

I like the way that we see this 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 exceedingly well rendered. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a phenomenal job in bringing out their personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story the more we understand and the more we want to see what’s going to happen next.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story emerge and grow we see how these layers open up avenues to be explored. Seeing the scientists and their situation, what happens on the ship waiting for the team, these moments and situations add so much depth, complexity and dimension to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved extremely well.

I am completely and utterly impressed with the quality of the interiors here. The linework is clean, crisp and strong plus with the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of detail we see within the work is extraordinary. That we see backgrounds being utilised to enhance and expand the moments, they also work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. This goes hand-in-hand with the creativity and imagination that we see and the armour and architecture that we see really brings that science fiction aspect to life exceptionally well. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a sensational eye for how colour works and how to maximise its effects.

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There is something about this that really manages to capture the readers’ attention, imagination and creativity by combining those classic science fiction elements with stranded, held captive, scientists and an armed team, or force, coming to rescue them and nothing goes according to plan. It’s not exactly predictable but it does come across as comfortable and that goes a long way in my book. The writing is solid and the characterisation is phenomenal and the interiors here are pretty brilliantly rendered and it makes this as fun and entertaining as it is.