Sometimes, what you really need in this life is to read a colorful adventure comic about flying cities and automatons. I was not aware that that was what I needed in my life at this particular moment, but then I read Sky Guy and the Altitude Adjustors, and it turns out that yes, that’s exactly what I needed.

The setting is a Steampunk world (Whatever happened to Steampunk? I almost never see it around anymore!) where civilization is built on airborne cities called Aerotowns. They’re held aloft by a series of complex mechanisms that are maintained by Aaron Skye and his team of mechanics, the Altitude Adjustors.

When a seemingly small paperwork error causes some routine maintenance to turn into a major accident, Aaron and his crew are made to take the blame—whether it was their fault or not. Now they’re left with no work, no money, and no good options, not to mention an Aerotown that’s on the brink of falling apart. Will they be forced into shady dealings to make ends meet? Worse yet, will they be forced to do a job… on the ground?

It’s not clear just yet exactly what happened on the ground, but, apparently, it was something fairly horrific. Our one glimpse into the situation is Marbury, a member of the Altitude Adjustors who’s referred to as a “Ground Monster” or “Groundling.” He’s got some rather serious physical mutations, including four thumbs and orange skin. He’s a perfectly charming and well-spoken person, but aside from his friends on the Altitude Adjustors, people seem to hate him. A lot. (Though I suppose it’s possible that, knowing he’s a Groundling, people are just afraid he might, at any moment, break into improv comedy.)

Rounding out the team are Loris, who develops cool new gizmos and technologies (including a faithful automaton named Tom), and his sister Sarina, who has similar talents, but instead uses them to develop powerful (and likely less than legal) weapons.

The characters are a big part of what makes this comic work. It’s all well and good to have a cool concept (which it does), an intriguing plot (which it does), and vivid, colorful artwork (which it does). But the driving force of any good story is solid, well-developed characters and the dynamics between them. And fortunately, it has that, too.

If you feel like something is missing from your life, you should probably read Sky Guy and the Altitude Adjustors. You might just find out that, yes, what was missing was a colorful adventure comic about flying cities and automatons. And even if that wasn’t what was missing… it certainly can’t hurt. For myself, I can’t wait to see how the story continues…

Creative Team: Alin Silverwood (creator), Ryan Best (artist)
Publisher: PopSkull Press
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