Starburn #1 - Indie Comic Book Review

Starburn is an Action-Packed Romp Through Outer Space... with Pirates!

Starburn, written by Kelly Bender with illustrations by Brian Balondo, is an excellent first outing for this new series from Markosia. Captain Aphi and his crew, containing a blend of human looking and alien members, are space pirates. The premise for the book isn't wildly original but it's very well done. The pacing of the book is just right, giving us enough exposure to get to know the crew, but not beating us over the head with it either. On top that, all the characters emote and interact in ways that we get a feel for their personalities and the dynamic between the crew pretty quickly as well. To give you a brief idea of the plot without spoiling anything, our crew finds themselves on a very lucrative mission with unknown cargo to retrieve. Their client has offered to pay them three times the going rate, so you know something's up. On arrival, the Starburn crew quickly learn they are transporting a person and not a thing. And then the going gets rough. I'll leave it there so we stay out of spoiler territory.

The art of Starburn is quite good. The illustrations of Balondo with the inks of Cristian Docolomansky are crisp and consistent. The color work of Laura Lee helps elevate the book to the pro level. So many of the indie sci-fi books I've read lately seem to get stalled in the black and white or grey scale mode. While I can appreciate a comic that's in black and white, it's definitely more enticing to read a full color book created by talented people. Even the lettering by Nic J Shaw is done well and feels progressive, opting for a bubble/tail style that I've only seen from VC's Clayton Cowles.

Overall, this book feels like it has a story with legs and art that is up to snuff. Starburn is slated for a release in early 2015, so stay tuned to Markosia for an official announcement on the publish date. Markosia books now featured prominently on iTunes, iBooks, Comics + and DriveThruComics, and will be featuring on many other platforms over the next year, so watch this space for more announcements.